Memores Nomine
by Robin Lynn Smith
Summary: Marvin Strange was a rather standard kid. And then came the Wizarding World. And if that couldn't throw anyone for a loop, Marvin isn't sure what else could. In a world full of new rules, (of which he's certain the government does not approve of, like randomly taking in children without telling anyone), he's just trying to keep up. *under revision*
1. A Short Prologue

**Author's Notes:**

 _For the Purposes of this Story:_

 _Students are all 11 before the first day of the term, so September 1st._

 **A Short Prologue**

There were but a few names that troubled our great Albus Dumbledore immensely. Naturally, there was Harry Potter, and of course, the Malfoy child (although he suspect that one would be grow to be nothing but a spoiled brat), and the children of the various other un-convicted Death Eaters and their spouses, all of whom would likely or already follow the Malfoy spawn. No, the name that was troubling Albus Dumbledore was not one of the traditional troublemakers. In fact, it was a name that he was fairly certain had never crossed his ears before now. That of one Marvin Strange. Dumbledore had, naturally, assumed this was just another muggle-born wizarding child. That is, until he handed out the letters to his heads-of-houses (and Hagrid, in the case of Harry) to have them delivered to their homes and Pomona reported back on the less than standard delivery of Mr. Strange's letter. Pomona, the sweet heart that she was, was distraught over where the boy was living, and how he got there, which is to say, in an orphanage, and brought there by a ministry official none-the-less. Normally, Dumbledore made certain that orphanage children were not on Pomona's letter delivery list, as she was always incredibly upset by the idea of children not having a home. Of course, there were far fewer of them than there had been years ago, and as such Dumbledore was not quite as rigorous in his vetting of Pomona's deliveries. But the truly troubling aspect was that there was no record, within Hogwarts's book of names (which was really only a list of students registered by their parents) or the Ministry's records of accidental magic of a Marvin Strange. After a bit of digging, Dumbledore was quite certain that there was no magical child with the name of Marvin Strange. Yet somehow, the ministry had sent a letter, with an address, to this child. And, by Pomona's rather emotional recount, said child did indeed exist. In fact, by Pomona's account, the child didn't react with any alarm, surprise, or anything other than moderate interest in magic or Hogwarts. It was, of course, a conundrum, which were things that Albus Dumbledore was rather fond of puzzling out. Perhaps, an answer would come after a fourth lemon drop.


	2. An Oddly Calm Acceptance

**An Oddly Calm Acceptance**

Pomona sprout approached the tall building with a large amount of apprehension. Normally, she would not have been near an orphanage, why, Dumbledore knew how upset they made her. And she would, of course, gladly take in all of the children in every single one, if it wasn't considered a conflict of interest for her to house students, or a potential breach of the statute of secrecy to take in muggle children, or if she was not a head of house and living at Hogwarts for most of the year or….

Pomona shook her head, approaching the tall, red-bricked building with a neatly lettered cement plaque detailing:

Saint Elizabeth's Home for Orphaned Children

Est. 1917

In Memoriam of Families Lost to the Great War

To Provide a Loving Home for Those Left Behind

It looked like a practical place, likely meant to house far more children than it currently did if the tightly drawn blinds on the upper levels were anything to go by. Reaching the large wooden door Pomona raised the knocker and let it drop once. It seemed a long while before anyone opened the door. A graying middle aged man opened the door, assisting an elderly woman on his arm.

"It's a bit before visiting hours, ma'am, most of the children have not…"

"It's alright, Johnathan," the old woman croaked, "I believe she's here to speak with young Marvin."

"But, Mrs. Douffry, we mustn't make exceptions… the other childr—"

It was Pomona's turn to interrupt, clearing her throat and hoping nothing went wrong, "Excuse me, Mrs. Douffry, is it? I am Pomona Sprout. I have a letter here for one Marvin Strange. It is on a rather important matter, and I'm afraid I must speak with him and deliver it privately."

"Yes, see I told you I was right Johnathan, go back to the school room and see that the children are finishing their lessons – send Marvin up here – and I'll see Ms. Sprout to the sitting room."

With that, Johnathan took his leave, and Mrs. Douffry turned to address Pomona.

"Ms. Sprout, do you mind terribly giving me a hand, I'm afraid there are a few steps down into the sitting room, and I am no longer in my prime."

"Er, yes, of course, I must say though, that I rather need to address Mr. Strange privately, it's a personal matter, you see, and I'd like to –"

"Yes, yes, it's about schooling is it not?" said Mrs. Douffry, "quite talented the boy is, or will be I suspect. And I am correct in assuming you are none other than Ms. Pomona Sprout, head of House Hufflepuff and herbology teacher at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry?"

"Well, I can't say really - like I said – quite private and –"

"I'm a squib, m'dear, no need to worry about the statute of secrecy when around me, the ministry informed me you'd be coming. I had my suspicions about Mr. Strange. The man who dropped him here some eleven years ago was in quite the tizzy, and clearly a wizard. A purple suitcoat! Purple, can you believe it? Didn't seem to be able to get the boy's name out right, but I heard Marvin Strange and left it at that. And of course, the boy has been nothing if not exceptional in the years past. Absorbs information and his lessons like a sponge, he does. Doesn't get on much with the other children though, is a bit too quiet sometimes. But he is far ahead in his studies, often goes to the library and makes his own lessons. Quite the boy. Of course, Johnathan sees more of him nowadays, I don't move about much anymore."

By this time, Pomona was merely astounded at the energy in the elderly woman's speech. For a woman barely able to walk unassisted, she could certainly keep up a conversation. Helping the woman into a chair near a coffee table, Pomona made her way around the table to the couch. As she settled herself, Mrs. Douffry waved someone into the room.

"Marvin! Do come in, no need to stand in the door. Ms. Sprout is here to see you. Now I must say, you'll need to keep an open mind, I'm sure some things will be a bit of a shock for you. No matter, come sit down and introduce yourself."

The boy sat down, "Marvin Strange. Pleasure to meet you."

"Delighted. Now, Mr. Strange, I am Professor Pomona Sprout. The school name I'm about to tell you will sound incredibly odd, but please, keep an open mind. I am from a school called Hogwarts, A School for Witchcraft and Wizardry."

Pomona paused, and waited for some sort of confirmation from the boy. He simply nodded. A bit put off, Pomona continued,

"There are, hundreds of witches and wizards living around the world, secretly, of course. Mrs. Douffry is present as she is what we call a squib – someone born to a magical family who does not have magic. I am here because you have demonstrated, or rather, the Ministry of Magic has detected, that you are a wizard. It's a somewhat rare occurrence where muggles, non-magical people, have children who are magical. Did you have any questions?"

Pomona received only a quick shake of the head in response.

"Now Marvin, -" Mrs. Douffry began,

"Er, very well then, this," Pomona cut her off and paused, pulling the Hogwarts letter out of her bag, "is your official letter, saying that you have been accepted to Hogwarts, and that the Ministry expects you at the train platform – Kings Cross Station, Platform 9 ¾, on September 1st. On July 31st, a teacher from the school will come by and drop off your basic school items, cauldron, potion supplies, and such. They will then take you to get fitted for your robes and to get a wand. There is, naturally, a stipend provided for students such as yourself to get those items. I have your books with me, in case you'd like to study them in the next two months. Needless to say, you must keep them out of site of the muggle children."

"I believe it will be Professor Snape or McGonagall coming to take you to get your school items, I suspect either of them will arrive at 11AM sharp. Neither appreciate tardiness, so I would advise being ready by that time. I believe, that is all, unless you have any questions."

Taking Marvin's silence as confusion, Mrs. Douffry addressed Pomona, "Pomona – I may call you that, hm? – could you please demonstrate to Mr. Marvin here that this is not a prank, I do believe his silence is implying skepticism."

"Oh, well of course, um, well, would either of you like some tea?"

"Yes, that would be delightful! Don't you think Marvin? Ms. Pomona, could you please get us some tea?"

With that, Pomona summoned the tea set and biscuits that she had noted on a side table on her way in.

"Oh, how delightful, I knew it was a good idea to set these out where you could see them, m'dear. If I remember correctly it was always Albus and Minerva's specialty to conjure items. I'm quite glad you noticed them and could summon them. That is still one of the principals of conjurations is it not? That something cannot come out of nothing? I do believe I remember that from my lessons before my parents realized I was a squib. Quite the day that was. They took it well though," Mrs. Douffry trailed off wistfully, helping herself to a biscuit off the tray that had just appeared.

"Tea, Mr. Strange?" queried Pomona, waiting for a response, "I'll take your silence as a yes, I suppose. A cream, sugar perhaps?"

Marvin's gaze took in the now hovering tea set, which happened to be pouring tea into the various cups about the table. They widened for barely a moment before he shook his head.

"No. May I have the books though?"

"You are sure you have no other questions? Usually, muggle-born students will have many questions, and you only just found out about magic, and it really is a whole different world…"

Marvin, once again, merely shook his head.

"Very well then, here are your books," Pomona once again reached into her bag, "and once again, please remember it is very important that the other children do not see them. Another professor will come and pick you up on July 31st, 11AM."

"Strange boy, at times," Mrs. Douffry observed, once Marvin left the room, "most children would be delighted at magic, and demand to see more. I feel I should explain the entirety of the night he was brought here. I do believe the man who dropped him off was from the ministry, and I feel someone ought to know the odd story, if only to tell him someday if I never find the right time. Do you mind staying for tea?"


	3. A Troubling Decision

A Troubling Decision

Contrary to popular belief, Johnathan was not a muggle. Not in the least. He was, in fact, an Auror. Not a particularly good one, and in fact his first and only assignment was none other than the un-coveted work of an Azkaban guard – a post at which he served for thirty years. His retirement, however, was some five years ago. In fact, Johnathan was none other than the "flustered ministry official" who dropped off Marvin Strange all those years ago. Retired now, he was quite done with official Auror work. And currently, he was very, very concerned about what was going on in the sitting room. Marvin Strange – or simply that boy – as he preferred to call him in his own head, was nothing but trouble. Even worse, the boy was probably being invited to Hogwarts, and this concerned Johnathan to no end. After all, despite Mrs. Douffry's belief that the boy was a lovely child, Johnathan was certain that the single incident of accidental magic he had witnessed was not at all accidental.

The fact remained, however, that once the boy went to Diagon Alley, there was no telling what he might discover about himself, Johnathan, or anything else that occurred on his birthday 11 years prior. Johnathan made up his mind. There was no way he would allow the boy into the wizarding world. He would just have to be disposed of. Memory charms were never his strong suit, despite charms having been his best subject in school, but he had confidence that he could make Mrs. Douffry and the other children forget Marvin Strange, at least well enough to avoid any issues with muggles. The only question remaining was if he could bring himself to hurt a child. There, Johnathan was having some trouble. Of course, as an Auror, he was quite adept at incapacitating his targets. But life as an Azkaban guard did not give him much field training. But, given that the boy had no sure idea that he was magical until today, Johnathan was quite certain he could handle it. He could always somehow get the boy out the window, and make it look like he fell. Yes, Johnathan was confident that plan was best. It didn't even rely on his own wand having to cast anything more than a stunning and levitation spell. And by the time the body was found, there would be no record of him even being at the orphanage, let alone that he was a wizard. He'd set up silencing charms beforehand, and then make his move at night. With any luck, all the other children and Mrs. Douffry would already be asleep during the entire thing. He'd modify their memories, and be on his way.


	4. An Unexpected Result

An Unexpected Result

It wasn't unusual for some of the younger children to occasionally wander to his room before their bedtime. In fact, before a few weeks ago, he would have been delighted to show them the little tricks he could do. It wasn't nearly as fun with the older children, who always wanted him to explain it, and never believed him when he said it was magic. They had eventually just stopped asking, instead scoffing at his insistence that there wasn't a trick – assuming he would never share. But the younger children Marvin had little issue with, they'd just laugh and clap, amused by the floating coin or pencil, or the antics he could urge animals into doing at times. He used to play tricks on the older children whenever they would scoff at him, but ever since Johnathan came he always seemed to be watching Marvin, and was much stricter about all the children leaving their rooms at night, which was when Marvin had normally messed with the older children. Marvin wasn't sure why Johnathan seemed to dislike him so much, but whatever the reason, he always seemed to think Marvin was causing trouble and hurting the other children, which wasn't true at all. In fact, Marvin was fairly certain that the only person he had ever made hurt was one of the older children – one Alvin Smithson, who had always picked on him. Johnathan always seemed to ignore when Smithson was picking on Marvin, even though Smithson was the oldest child there other than Marvin. Mrs. Douffry had never tolerated mean and rude behavior amongst the children, and Smithson was the worst culprit. He had received more scolding from Mrs. Douffry than Marvin had from Johnathan, and that was saying something. But when Johnathan came, and Mrs. Douffry was around less, and less as she got older, Johnathan did not interfere with Smithson picking on Marvin, although he never let Smithson pick on the other children. Marvin had tried to tell Mrs. Douffry, but she insisted that Johnathan would never do such a thing, just like Marvin had overheard Johnathan telling Mrs. Douffry he was horrid and had hurt Smithson and she would insist that Marvin was a good child. He had never let Johnathan see him make things float, for some reason that had always seemed like a terrible idea. Johnathan did see after when Marvin made Alvin Smithson bleed though. And that had gone awfully. Naturally, he told Johnathan that Smithson had fallen. But Johnathan had been certain Marvin was lying. Which he was, but why would anyone believe Smithson had been forcibly thrown back into a tree, and that Marvin had thought that Smithson would fear being blind most, and then Smithson's eyes had started bleeding horribly? No one would, and after all, Marvin wasn't even sure exactly what happened, other than Smithson tried to hit him with a stick, and then he was by a tree, on the ground, and bleeding. Other than the fact that he probably should have felt bad about the whole thing, and gone and gotten help as soon as it happened, but had instead sat there and laughed for a solid few minutes, and then got help. Now, he realized it must have been accidental magic, and given the fact that the wizarding world was, apparently, a thing, he found this quite fascinating. After this incident, Alvin Smithson went to a different school, to learn how to deal with being blinded and all, and Marvin decided he'd rather forget the whole thing. No one had seen it, or so he believed, and he thought he had looked suitably horrified when he said that Smithson had fallen out of the tree. Realizing now, that the small things he could do, and that significantly larger one were real magic, Marvin had made rather quick work of most of the school books left by Professor Sprout, and was decidedly excited to go see this Diagon Alley tomorrow morning, since it meant he would be getting a wand and would – just maybe – be able to try and practice some of the spells. Thoughts of practice and magic were interrupted rather abruptly by a sharp knock on his door.

Given their mutual distaste, Marvin was sufficiently surprised to answer the knock and see Johnathan there. He was even more astounded when Johnathan spoke,

"Do you mind if I come in?"

Puzzled, and having a little feeling he should be a bit alarmed by the sudden occurrence, Marvin stepped back and left the door open, quickly sliding the text book he had been reading into the bag still sitting by the door.

"Did you need something specific, Mr. Johnathan? I'm certain I have already turned in my classwork for the day, and I'm sure the younger children will require help going to bed…"

"Do you realize, what time it is," Johnathan seemed to hesitate briefly, before finishing, "Marvin Strange? It is quite late, and all the other children have already gone to bed, as has Mrs. Douffry."

Johnathan was not pleased, he tried quite hard to hide it, and was fairly certain he succeeded. _The boy should be asleep by now! No matter, if he would turn around, this would be easier._ Shutting the door behind him, which earned him an incredibly odd look from Marvin, who was now leaning against his bed, watching Johnathan suspiciously.

"Are you feeling alright, Mr. Johnathan? You're acting oddly, and, no disrespect, sir, but I'd rather you acted oddly somewhere else?"

Deciding he'd waited long enough Johnathan sent a rushed stunner at Marvin and found, quite to his, and Marvin's surprise, that Marvin was no longer standing where he had been. This occurred repeatedly, though how, neither could really say, until, whether by luck on Johnathan's part, or ill-luck on Marvin's, Johnathan finally landed a spell, a simple Petrificus Totalus, having given up on the stunning spell when he kept missing. Not wasting another minute, he levitated Marvin out the window, and dropped him. Cleaning up the mess, Johnathan apparated away, so flustered he rather forgot to modify the memories of everyone in the building.


	5. An Interesting Development

An Interesting Development

Professor Snape was not at all pleased as he approached Saint Elizabeth's Home for Orphaned Children. He detested taking the muggle students to Diagon Alley, their absurd fascination rather horrified him. He had, with some success, managed to pass on some of his charges to Pomona, who thought it was the least she could do since she had taken "so long to speak with the Strange child that Severus hadn't gotten the ingredients from her private greenhouse in time." Unfortunately, he could not pass along his last few, and had already spent a trying morning with one terribly late student, and another who wanted to ask imbecilic questions all the time. Marvin Strange was his last charge of the day, and he couldn't wait to be rid of the incessant babbling of children – at least until the school year started, again. Not for the first time he wondered why he bothered teaching at all, but that familiar train of thought was quickly cut off by the sight of a boy apparently climbing in through a garden window. From the apparent age and appearance of the child – average size and build, dark hair and dark-set eyes, yet incredibly pale – Severus guessed this may well be his charge for the next hour or so.

"Boy," he barked, "what are you doing there?" Severus cringed internally as the question came out as, well, a question, instead of a demand. He was, after all, genuinely curious as to why the boy was using a window instead of the front door less than a few yards to his right.

Said boy cringed a bit, and paused in his entry, opening the window a bit more and sitting on the sill. "Going inside…sir?"

"And why," Snape paused, "are you sneaking into an orphanage, in broad daylight, looking as though you've been caught doing something wrong?" Snape paused a moment, "And don't lie, I'll know."

"Because I have an appointment that I mustn't be late to, and –" a bell sounded, distantly, and the boy hung his head a bit, "I'm now late, given that it's eleven."

From Severus's point, it looked a lot like the boy was pretending to be sorry, the upwards glances, as though he was trying to catch Severus's reaction, were a dead give-away.

"You're Marvin Strange, then?" Snape sighed, he may as well stop bothering the boy and get this over with. A nod was all the boy got out before Severus cut him off. "Well, you had better have a good reason for this lateness. I am Professor Snape, I presume you need to inform the…matron, of this establishment that you'll be leaving?"

The boy nodded again, a bit more enthusiastically, "yes, I'll just hop in and unlock the door and let her know," he looked down thoughtfully, "and I suppose I'd better change into different clothes, should I wear something other than jeans to this Diagon Alley?"

Professor Snape was caught a bit off guard, although he supposed most children of this age wore what their parents told them. Perhaps the boy was too daft to read his scowl. He was fairly certain he made it clear that he detested children of all types. "Slacks and a nice shirt will do, and be quick, you're already late."

A quick nod and the boy dropped himself through the window, shutting it and locking it, Snape noted. He wondered if the boy had snuck out earlier and left the window unlocked, or if he had managed to unlock it from the outside. A moment later and the boy reappeared in the entryway.

"I'll just be a moment, sir, and would you like anything, tea perhaps? Mrs. Douffry would be terribly disappointed if I didn't offer. I may be a minute longer if Mrs. Douffry would like to come greet you, she struggles a bit with the stairs sometimes. The other children are in lessons. I think, I mean, I'm not really sure after yesterday."

The last sentence was more mumbled to himself than spoken, and Snape noted that despite the offer of tea the boy was now making his way up the stairs, having apparently forgotten entirely.

Several moments later the boy re-emerged finishing the buttons on the cuffs of his shirt.

"I'm ready to go, sir, Mrs. Douffry is schooling the children today, since Johnathan isn't here."

"Very well, we will be apparating there. It will be like going through a very small, dark tube. I will have to hold onto your arm quite firmly, else you will be injured. You'll also be a bit dizzy afterwards."

Strictly speaking, Snape was not at all supposed to apparate a student. But they were late, there weren't any muggles in site, and he didn't much care what Dumbledore or the Ministry thought. It wasn't as though anyone would likely complain.

A moment later and Professor Snape and Marvin Strange appeared behind the Leaky Cauldron, Marvin having let out a squeak and fallen almost immediately. Assuming the boy would get himself up, Snape began tapping the pattern to open the entry way. As the bricks moved aside he turned, expecting Marvin to be ready to proceed. Oddly, the boy was still sitting on the ground, looking rather embarrassed.

"Could you, er, help me up, sir? I had, well, a bit of a fall yesterday evening, and I think I hit my head and I am not really certain I can stand up without falling back over."

A quick glance about – after all, it wouldn't do for the Professor Snape to be seen helping a student – and Severus pulled the boy to his feet.

"Come this way, I'm sure Tom will let us borrow a room to fix you up real quick."

Ignoring the boy's apparent confusion, Snape strode into the Leaky Cauldron, billowing robes and scowl firmly in place. Flagging down Tom, and a quiet conversation later, Marvin and Snape entered one of the dining rooms.

"Now, sit down, and is anything hurt but your head. It'll be difficult for Ollivander to fit you with your wand while you're injured, and I don't have time for anything less than expedience."

The boy hesitated, then seemed to think better of it as Snape glared at him. "My entire back is a bruise. And my left wrist rather hurts, and I have an awful headache. And my ribs hurt, all of them, but mostly on the left, the top and right feel like bruises, but the left really hurts."

Snape stared for a moment. Either the boy was exaggerating, or clumsier than a Longbottom in potions class. He decided he'd cast his own diagnostic spell. He wasn't a potion's master for nothing, and had studied quite a bit of healing to deal with the regular accidents of experimental brewing.

He gave an exasperated noise, "Just ignore everything I'm doing, and I swear, if I hear a single word out of your mouth that isn't responding to one of my questions, I'll make you walk about anyways, bruises and all. Now, it will help, if you tell me what, exactly, you did."

"I… fell, sir."

Snape raised an eyebrow. Casting the diagnostic spell under his breath, he looked at the parchment in front of him.

"I very much doubt that, given that you have severe bruising on your back and spine, a cracked rib on your left side, a sprained wrist and a rather impressively large concussion. That, Mr. Strange, is not a fall from anything lower than a broomstick, and I highly doubt you have one of those at your disposal. So, by all means, tell me – what exactly did you do? Unless, of course, you'd like to risk letting that cracked rib and concussion heal on their own."

The boy looked rather panicked, "I'm – well – I, am not really, well –"

"Words, Strange, use them." Snape was not feeling patient, not anymore. This day was a worse disaster than usual, and he had even been fairly nice to this kid. Stammering was not something he appreciated, ever.

"I –" the boy paused again, but a scowl got him speaking again rather quickly. Snape allowed himself an internal smirk. "I fell out of my window."

"Your…window. And, pray tell, how does one _fall_ ," he sneered, "out of a window?"

"Um, carefully? Sir"

If it wasn't incredibly improper, and if the kid wasn't already injured, Snape would have slapped him. Did the boy have no common sense?! He was Severus Tobias Snape, and he was being incredibly helpful. Snape, once again, reigned in his annoyance.

"I suggest, that you start talking. Now. And you will refrain from any more impertinence. Is that clear."

He didn't bother to hide his glare this time, and apparently, he looked frightening enough that Marvin Strange decided it was time to spit out the whole story all at once.

"Johnathan was, I think, a wizard, acted all funny, and he kept throwing these red spells, seemed really angry – I think the word was Stupif – Stupifie? Or something – and then he said a different one and I couldn't move and he did something else and I floated out the window and he - he dropped me and then there was a loud pop noise. And it felt like I landed on a very hard mat and then I think I passed out because everything hurt." The boy finished the story all in one breath and paused, looking very concerned at the still-scowling professor. To his surprise, the Professor looked like he actually believed the story - which was, for once in Marvin's short life – completely truthful, and not at all exaggerated.

What Marvin didn't know, was that Severus Snape was excellent at spotting lies, and despite the apparent absurdity of the story, not a single lie was in it.

"Well then, let's get you fixed up. And I will need some small item that was hit with a spell to help identify this Johnathan. I will take a look around your room and see if the Ministry, I, or the Headmaster can provide some insight."

With that, Snape pulled out a small vial of a bright purple potion from one of the inside pockets of his robes and got to work.

"This will fix the concussion, it'll take about 15 minutes to take effect. Best you drink it all at once. In the meantime, undo your buttons and we will see what we can do about your back, ribs, and wrist."

Having successfully escaped his shirt, Marvin sat nervously as the professor stood up to take a look at the bruises – or rather bruise – that was currently Marvin.

"This will be uncomfortable. Try and avoid moving, it will go faster."

A muttered spell and Marvin's entire body felt like it was itching. Very, very badly. After what felt like a lifetime of trying very hard not to move, the uncomfortable feeling ended, and Marvin felt much better. A second spell and an alarming crackling noise and his rib felt much better, and one more and his wrist was better. The professor pulled out a watch and spoke again,

"Ten minutes left on the potion. I am going to speak with Headmaster Dumbledore in the meantime. Do not disturb me, unless you start seeing purple everywhere. That would be a sign of a bad side effect of the potion."

Marvin decided he would be best served shutting his eyes and pretending the disaster of the past day was very much not a thing, at least for the next few minutes.


	6. Ollivander's Observations

6\. Ollivander's Observations

Some time later, after Marvin witnessed an odd conversation where Professor Snape was placing his head in a green fire, and Marvin couldn't hear anything he was saying, even though he could see that Professor Snape was speaking, Professor Snape deemed him fit to proceed with the day's activities. They proceeded to a small looking shop, where a matronly looking witch fit robes for Marvin. He wasn't quite sure why wizards wore what, by his standards, amounted to dressing gowns or bathrobes, but despite his curiosity, the way Professor Snape kept scowling at his watch made Marvin decide it would be best to continue the silence that the Professor had asked for. Hardly able to keep up or look around due to the professor's brisk stride, Marvin nearly ran into his back when he stopped.

"This is Ollivander's, you will get your wand here," he said as he pushed open the door.

Marvin entered what was likely the dustiest shop he had ever seen. It was dim, and the only light seemed to filter through the rather dirty storefront window. The professor took the rickety chair by the door and Marvin, after a moment's hesitation stood rather awkwardly next to him. It appeared that they were waiting, but for what Marvin wasn't sure. There weren't any other customers, and there was no shopkeeper in sight.

"Ah, Mr. Snape," Marvin nearly jumped out of his skin as an ancient looking man appeared seemingly from nowhere, "your third time here today, if I am not mistaken. But the first time you have come in. Hawthorn and Dragon Heartstring, yes?"

"Correct as usual, Mr. Ollivander."

"Taking good care of it still?"

"As well as before."

The old man nodded, seemingly appeased, "And here we have Mr. –" the man tilted his head slightly, seemingly puzzled, "Lestrange?"

The professor let out an undignified noise between a surprised snort and a cough, and Marvin stepped in, "No, my last name is Strange, you must have mixed it with someone else. A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Ollivander, sir."

"Mr. Lestrange, I am never mistaken. Now, a wand…"


	7. A Persistent Professor

7\. A Persistent Professor's Reactions

Professor Snape stood, "I must pay a quick call to the Ministry and speak with Dumbledore. Might I use your floo, Mr. Ollivander?"

Mr. Ollivander waved him away in what Professor Snape assumed was acquiescence while pulling half a dozen wands off the stuffed shelves. The professor steeled himself for an unpleasant conversation with the Ministry. He considered calling Dumbledore first, but knowing the old man, he'd just take whatever nonsense the Ministry gave him. Snape knew better, Mr. Ollivander did not mistake identities.

Marvin followed the old shopkeeper to the middle of the store and stepped up onto the small pedestal there. Clearly the man had a list of student's names, and his had been misspelled or misread, else he couldn't possibly know who was who. He was unsure why the professor seemed to think his name different, or why it would matter. Such thoughts were quickly banished as a tape measure began to zip about Marvin, measure everything from the circumference of his head to the length of his legs.

"That's enough," the ancient wizard said, and the persistent measure went limp and placed itself on the counter, "come up here. I one of these may work." The man handed him a wand, and Marvin paused, unsure how to proceed.

"Well give it a wave! Go on."

Feeling utterly foolish, Marvin twitched the wand, and promptly yelped as it emitted a loud bang.

"No, most certainly not… hmm… perhaps this one," Ollivander mumbled, snatching away the wand and handing him another.

And so the pattern continued, with the next several dropping half the wands off a shelf, shattering a display, emitting a shrieking noise, doing nothing at all, and the last, a midsized wand of holly and unicorn hair, throwing itself forcibly out of Marvin's hand and emitting a rather loud, high pitched noise before placing itself back into its own box.

Mr. Ollivander observed this last spectacle with some amusement. "Perhaps I am thinking of this the wrong way. I thought a calmer wand given the first's reaction, but it appears a more explosive one may be the way to go."

A small tinkle of a bell alerted Mr. Ollivander and Marvin to the arrival of new customers.

"Ah, Ms. Lovegood and Mr. Lovegood, I have been expecting you, please, have a seat."

"No need, Mr. Ollivander, sir. That one will work." The girl was small, with disproportionately long blonde hair interwoven with pink and orange flowers, and she pointed at one of the wands knocked onto the floor by one of Marvin's earlier trials. Mr. Ollivander raised an eyebrow, "If you don't mind?" He asked, glancing at Marvin. "Not at all, Mr. Ollivander, she seems to know what she wants."

"You are aware, Ms. Lovegood, that the wand chooses the wizard, yes?"

"Yes. But that one likes me. I'm sure of it. Just like the one all the way in that corner likes him."

"Very well, one silver lime and Augery-Phoenix feather wand, 10 inches, and quite flexible, for Ms. Lovegood. And then we shall see if your intuitions will work for my other customer today."

The girl gave the wand a wave, giggling as a bright bouquet of flowers popped into existence, and skipped over to the counter, placing the flowers there.

"A perfect match, on the first try it would appear, just like your mother." Mr. Ollivander smiled at the girl, "I suppose we should see about your other thoughts. Would you like to go grab the wand you think will work?" The girl nodded solemnly and skipped over to a back corner.

"You may as well accompany her, I don't doubt she's right," said Ollivander, waving Marvin away, and he quickly scurried after the small girl.

"My name is Luna," she said as he caught up.

"Marvin Strange," Marvin returned, "how did you know what wand would work? All of them have had terrible reactions to me so far."

"It just seemed right. Also, I think your name is wrong. Marvin Strange doesn't fit you. You should get that checked. Could you give me a boost? It's on that fourth shelf there, above my head, behind those others. I'll have to move them."

Marvin just shook his head and helped the girl up. Apparently, the wizarding world seemed to think they knew your names better than you did. A strange place it was.

"Oh," she said, sounding disappointed, "it's says don't open until necessary. Perhaps we should hand it to Mr. Ollivander first?"

"I suppose. He did say go ahead though. But maybe we should. I mean, the last wand threw itself back into its box, and another blew up the shelf."

"Yes, maybe. At the least perhaps he will know why it is labelled as 'Do not open.' What is the point of a box not meant to be opened?"

Marvin was a bit confused by the girl's mannerisms. He didn't see why Mr. Ollivander would just let her wander around, although he did seem to know her family. He followed the now humming girl back up to the front of the shop, weaving their way through the shelves of what Marvin assumed were wands.

"Here Mr. Ollivander. This one will be Marvin's. It just says not to open, so we weren't sure what to do with it. But I'm positive this is the wand for him."

"Well, you were wise not to open it. This wand was made by my great-great-great-great grandfather in the late 1500s. It's actually the last wand of his in the store, and he insisted in his journals that this wand must remain sealed for 250 years after its making. But, as that time is long past, I believe it is a good time to open it."

Mr. Ollivander carefully loosened the sides of the box, and lifted the top. Nestled in what appeared to be webs was a note over a reddish colored wand.

"Oh dear. This wand will be a bit of a hassle, Mr. Lestrange," said Ollivander.

Luna cocked her head at Marvin, "Lestrange fits you. You're much nicer than the stories I've heard though. I do hope you stay that way. I should like to be friends with you."

"Ahem, yes, thank you Ms. Lovegood, now, Mr. Lestrange, this wand is just under 13 inches, rather unyielding, cherry with a strip of yew right above the handle, the webbing surrounding it is acromantula web, quite good for preservation of organic materials. I suspect it also lines the inside of the yew strip, but what I don't know, the Ministry can't claim I do," Mr. Ollivander smiled slightly, "No, no," he said, holding up a hand, "don't ask. You're better off looking it up somewhere. Now, the core is dragon heart string wrapped in basilisk skin, to protect the heart string as it tends towards explosive results in combination with cherry or yew. From my grandfather's notes, and this one here, I do believe this was a culmination of his life-long works in wand creation. It is a work of art, and you will not find it's like anywhere else, I should think. Now give it a wave."

Marvin took the wand and followed Ollivander's instructions, grinning at Luna when it emitted green sparks.

"I do believe Ms. Lovegood was correct again. And I also believe Mr. Snape is quite ready to leave, Mr. Lestrange, do have care with that wand, it's quite a curious specimen."


	8. A Trip to Gringotts

Well I misnamed the previous chapter (7), and that has since been fixed. This is the chapter actually titled "A Trip to Gringotts" and actually involves said trip instead of A Persistent Professor. I feel like an imbecile. Not only am I late posting (which is because I keep feeling the need to make edits), but I apparently can't count either.

8\. A Trip to Gringotts

Indeed, Professor Snape had removed his head from the odd green fire and now looked, if possible, paler than he was before. He also now held a rather nondescript looking folder that Marvin was certain wasn't there before.

"Sir, if I may ask, how did you get paper through a fire?" Marvin regretted asking almost immediately as Professor Snape levelled him with an impressive glare despite his pallor.

"We will be stopping at Gringotts, I assume you have found a wand?" Marvin nodded, not wishing to be on the receiving end of another of Professor Snape's glares. He noted they became more frequent as the day went on.

"We will be going then, Mr. Ollivander, Mr. Lovegood," the professor nodded towards each of the men respectively, "come, Mr. Lestrange."

"Sir?" Marvin queried once out of the small shop, "why is Mr. Ollivander calling me by Lestrange, and now yourself? I don't mean to pry, but I'm fairly certain I know my own name, sir."

Snape sighed, he detested taking students shopping. He detested students with no knowledge of themselves more, not through their own fault, but simply because he had better things to do.

"It appears the Ministry thought it would reflect poorly if it got out that they had placed a very pregnant woman in Azkaban, even if said woman was the infamous Bellatrix Lestrange, who happens to be your mother."

"What is Azkaban, sir?" Marvin asked, his eyebrow wrinkling, "And I shouldn't like to be associated with someone who was widely disliked. Is that why Mr. Johnathan attacked me?"

"Azkaban is the wizarding equivalent of prison, although it's securities are far beyond even the most well-guarded muggle prisons. And it appears that was Johnathan's reasoning, from the ministry records he was the Azkaban guard who brought you to the orphanage on the behest of the Ministry. He, apparently, misheard or misconstrued the name. Your full name is Marvolo Rodolphus Lestrange. The aurors are looking for Johnathan now. The ministry would prefer you kept the name Marvin Strange, hence the name on your Hogwarts letter, but as I pointed out, it's apt to come out at the sorting or later. You may as well get it out sooner rather than later, and hopefully some of the connotations of the Lestrange name will fade during your schooling, as you are the only one alive and not incarcerated. You will spend the remainder of the summer with your mother's sister, Narcissa Malfoy. The Ministry is currently sending them the notice and they will come and get you from Gringotts shortly. The goblins will process the appropriate paperwork and you will legally be recognized as the Lestrange heir. I'm sure Narcissa will inform you of the expectations of that station."

"Station?" the boy appeared as distressed as one might imagine having this tossed at him in one day.

" _Yes_ , now silence. I've already been out of the school for far too long. I'm sure the Malfoys will send an elf or something to pick up your items from the orphanage once the goblins are done. The Ministry will inform the matron of the establishment."

Professor Snape led Marvin to a huge marble building at the end of the alley, pausing only a moment to allow the large doors to be opened. He strode towards one of the unengaged clerks,

"While you appear to have done your reading, given your lack of overly inane questions, do try not to stare."

"Ah, Mr. Snape, how can we be of service here at Gringotts today?"

"Bomeg, a pleasure as usual," the closest thing to a smile Marvin had seen all day appeared on the professor's face, "I do believe you'll enjoy what I have today."

The creature behind the desk raised a fuzzy looking eyebrow, "And what do we have here today, that you think is so… delightful?"

"The Ministry appears to have tried to remove an heir to a Most Ancient and Noble House from the books, quite a scandal I'd imagine, were it to get out…"

"A scandal indeed, Mr. Snape, "a sneer-like expression revealed slightly the goblin's slightly pointed teeth, "The boy you have with you is the one in question? And you have the appropriate paperwork?"

"Naturally, took quite a bit to get it from the Ministry. They seemed to think they were dealing with someone who held them in some esteem, like a certain Headmaster. Nonetheless, here are Mr. Lestrange's papers."

"Of course. And, young Mr. Lestrange, if you could just prick your finger and place it on this piece of parchment."

The goblin handed over a piece of paper with 'Lestrange' scrawled across the top and a letter opener.

Marvin raised an eyebrow, "Is this sanitary?" The goblin and the Professor stared at him. Marvin shifted uncomfortably under their view, "You know, clean. I don't really want to prick my finger on something that someone else has stabbed themselves with."

"Oh, give it here," Snape tossed what Marvin supposed was a cleaning charm at it, "there, all fine, now just get done with this. Once this part is done I can take my leave and the goblins will take care of the rest."

Cringing slightly, Marvin stuck his finger with the point of the opener and pressed it on the parchment like paper. The goblin promptly snatched back the parchment and the letter opener, and skimmed through the folder from the professor, and compared it to the parchment taken from Marvin.

"Everything seems to be in order, Mr. Snape, you may go, assuming Mrs. Malfoy is already on her way?"

"The ministry said she was being notified, I'm sure she's – already here it appears."

"Mrs. Malfoy," the Professor inclined his head in the least sarcastic show of respect of the day, "might I introduce your nephew, Marvolo Rodolphus Lestrange."

Mrs. Malfoy surveyed the boy in front of her and held out here hand to the goblin, who promptly handed over the folder from the Ministry and the parchment. She skimmed it, and then a ghost of a smile quickly passed over her face.

"Welcome to the family, Marvolo."


	9. The Malfoy Matriarch

9\. The Malfoy Matriarch

 _A/N: I have been the worst sort of person. As you may have noted, it's been 2 months since my last update, but I've continued to write at the same rate as before. This is a short chapter, but I have 5 more chapters already written, all about 1000-1500 words. I just have been negligent in my updating. Also, check out chapter 7 again. I've made some minor edits. I didn't like how Ollivander presented his wand at first, since I made it ever so complicated. But, I do believe its necessary, which will make sense later on. I may write an outtake on my theories of wandlore, as I always thought the wands initially made by the Ollivander in the books were far to generic. I've always seen them as tailored to the wizard over time, or that most wizards have different wands through their lifetimes, and I think that a progressive wandmaker would have tried to eliminate the need for such tailoring from the get-go, despite the difficulties of such custom building. Regardless, I present, the next installment of Memores Nomine: The Malfoy Matriarch._

"Severus, you may go. But you really must come by, I believe Lucius has a suggestion for the distribution of one of your potions, that and he seems desperately in need of a drinking partner to complain to, there's only so much he can tolerate of the Crabbes and Goyles."

"Mrs. Malfoy, I shall, of course, owl Lucius. I suspect I will be visiting soon, I have not seen Draco in some time, and I'm sure Dumbledore will be both displeased that I pushed the Ministry into admitting to Mr. Lestrange's existence, and anxious to ensure that he is settling in well. I trust you have knowledge of the Lestrange holdings since your sister and brother-in-law's stay in Azkaban began, and setting up young Mr. Lestrange's trust fund will be a non-issue?"

"Naturally, I was named executor of my sister's estate once she was arrested. I will ensure Marvolo here has no issues," she paused and looked at the nameplate on the desk of the goblin and sniffed, "Bomeg, please inform my husband and my account manager, Bruxam, of the changes to the Lestrange vault? I should like to set up Marvolo's trust today, that it will be ready by tomorrow."

"Marvolo, you will come back to the manor with me. Lucius was skeptical of the validity of the Ministry's claim, although I am not surprised that they tried to cover up your existence. We will, of course, need to update your wardrobe from that horrid muggle attire, and I'm sure your education is horribly lacking. Perhaps some of Draco's old clothing can be made to work for the evening and tomorrow. Do hold on, we will be apparating."

And with that, she took the rather stunned 11-year-old by the arm and he was once again squeezed into a small tube. Again, Marvin stumbled slightly when his feet it the ground, but this time did not fall.


	10. Of Astoundingly Abrupt Changes

10\. Of Astoundingly Abrupt Changes

"Ma'am, I don't mean to be rude, but there must be some mistake, and I do not appreciate being dragged about by yourself and Professor Snape as though I am incapable of speech or opinion! There is some mistake, I am Marvin Strange, and I should very much like to return home! Mrs. Douffry will be very concerned, and I am certain that this is a terribly improper way for any sort of change in custody to occur."

To Marvin's chagrin, the frigid appearing Malfoy matriarch burst out laughing.

"Please, now that we are out of public, call me Aunt Narcissa, and do come in. Lucius, or rather your Uncle Lucius, will walk you through the legalities. I'm sure you are very confused. And this is how it is done in the wizarding world, the parchments at Gringotts do not lie. They checked you against the vault's recognitions, and it is never wrong. I suspected my sister had a child, but could not find any evidence thereof, and she has not been allowed visitors in Azkaban since her incarceration. Apparently, I just needed to annoy Severus into finding out, although I suspect the actions of one Johnathan Moramir came into play there. But, you have much to learn, and you need not worry about that Johnathan fellow here, he cannot cross onto our properties. I do recommend you bring questions of your family to me. Lucius was never overly fond of my sister. Likely because he could never out duel her, but you didn't hear it from me," Narcissa winked conspiratorially, and began to walk towards the door of what was the largest house Marvin had ever seen.

Marvin was so stunned at the abrupt change in demeanor that he couldn't figure what to do. Although the best way out of this seemed to be proceeding with following his current insane guide, and figuring out where the heck he was. The entrance to the home was equally impressive as the outside. Marble flooring and sweeping mirrored staircases with deep wood banisters ended in a balcony at least a story and a half up. A flash of white-blonde hair appeared and slid down one of the banisters, colliding quite violently with Mrs. Malfoy.

"Is it true, mum? I have another cousin who I don't know?"

"Yes, darling, quite true. Now present yourself properly and introduce yourself," she scolded, rather halfheartedly.

"Draco Malfoy, pleasure to meet you," the blonde boy held out his hand in greeting.

"Marvin Strange, a pleasure as –" Marvin paused as Mrs. Malfoy, or Aunt Narcissa, or whoever she was raised an imperious eyebrow, "er – apparently Marvolo Lestrange. I'd prefer to go by Marvin still, if that's alright?"

"It will do for now," she said, as Marvin accepted the younger Malfoy's hand, "Lucius will insist on calling you Marvolo, however, he never uses anything but one's proper name."

An imposing man walked into the room, a cane, likely more decorative than anything else, as Marvin noted he was not walking in a limping manner at all, entered the giant foyer.

"What is this commotion, Narcissa?"

"Lucius! The papers were all in order, he is indeed our nephew, one Marvolo Rodolphus Lestrange, and the Gringotts parchment checks out, of course. An abysmal lack of refinement, as you can tell by his attire, but the boy is indeed my sister's son," she smiled, "although I think the abruptness with which he has received his new identity has rather shocked him into silence. Not that I could blame him. It's quite a surprise, I'd imagine. Would you send an elf to get his things from his former room? It is at a muggle orphanage, but the matron of the establishment is a squib."

"And she didn't think to inform you of magic at all, Marvolo?"

"No, sir, but apparently the teacher was also a wizard, and didn't tell me either. But he also apparently really dislikes me, so I don't know that he would count."

"The man had the audacity to attack Marvin! Knowing full well who he was, and without the boy even having a wand. I'm appalled that he hasn't been brought in yet. A disgrace, letting someone try and kill an Ancient and Most Noble Heir without immediate repercussion. I cannot believe the Ministry tried to keep him from us. You must be sure they know of this horrible error in their system, Lucius."

"Of course, Narcissa, the ministry will hear of it, now might I see those papers and explain them to Marvolo, that he will stop turning red and noticeably biting his tongue whenever someone mentions his new – or rather, old, name?"

"Yes, yes, here you are. Draco, back to your studies, Marvolo, follow Lucius, and I shall ensure the house elves haven't made a mess of dinner and inform them that we shall have another person dining with us."

"Two, my dear, Severus owled, he'll be joining us for dinner and to ensure that Marvolo has settled in alright, the second part on request of Dumbledore, of course."


	11. Legalities and Lessons

11\. Legalities and Lessons

 _A/N: Welcome back. The eleventh chapter is here. Next chapter is coming in 3-4 days based off my current writing speed. (Remember, I always remain 5 chapters ahead. So I'm partially through 15, but I figured you all deserved an update.) So, please, enjoy!_

Marvin followed the Malfoy patriarch to a heavy looking door that opened to the largest office he'd ever seen.

"Go ahead and sit, no need for formalities here. As I'm sure Narcissa informed you, our conduct in public is much different than that around close friends and family. I'm sure you're very confused, and my wife can be overbearing at times when it comes to family. You may speak frankly here."

"Well I just don't understand any of this! Last night I got thrown out of a window, today I had measuring tapes and pins move themselves, I met the oddest girl who just walked in and told the shopkeeper what wand she should have, even though he said she couldn't possibly know, and then she did the same thing to find my wand, as I was having no luck with the ones that I had tried, and that's when the whole "Lestrange" business started, as the shopkeeper insisted that was my name, and so did the girl who claimed the name "Lestrange" fit me, and so far as I can tell, all of these Lestranges are infamous at best, and nobody seems to like them and they sound downright horrible. I don't understand how I could just end up here, speaking with you, who I am hardly acquainted with, and who is apparently my new guardian. I've gone from no family to one that is apparently infamous and I assume that Mr. Johnathan figured it was my fault and came after me! This entire place makes no sense and I'd really rather just go home."

By this point, Marvin was practically yelling, and Lucius was simply watching him with mild amusement.

"Feeling better?" he queried.

"Hardly, I'm still utterly lost and rather annoyed. Do you have a coin or something? I should like something to do with my hands."

Lucius tossed the boy a galleon, sat down and began sorting through the papers from Gringotts and the Ministry, for all appearances ignoring whatever the boy was doing, yet rather curious what use the boy had for a coin. Covertly watching the boy flip the coin about, Lucius assumed it must be some form of muggle amusement, at least until he realized the boy was causing the coin to spin, hover, flip, and toss about without the use of his wand.

"What are you doing?"

"Apparently, given the confirmations of magic's existence that I've received, using magic to toss a coin about. I find it to be an amusing distraction to keep my hands busy, and found that doing this helped to avoid more explosive outbursts when I got angry or upset when I was little, or so Mrs. Douffry would tell me. Could you explain these papers now, and how in the world wizards seem to think it's okay for unknown adults to just shunt children about as it appears they do?"

Lucius summoned the files that had been owled over shortly after Narcissa's departure from Gringotts, and laid them out on the table.

"Wizarding and muggle laws are two different entities. Had anyone checked for some means of muggle identification of you at the orphanage they would not have found any. The matron would likely have contacted the ministry and had the appropriate papers drawn up. However, within the muggle records here, from the orphanage, it would appear that the aide who attacked you had been running some rather pervasive interference preventing such a thing from being an issue. According to the papers provided to prospective adopters, you we're not even present at the orphanage and were a local homeschooled child who assisted the orphans with their school work. So, as far as why the muggle government has not enquired as to your whereabouts, it's because they don't know you exist."

"But why didn't Mrs. Douffry tell me about Hogwarts and the wizarding world or anything?"

"I don't know, but I would guess she thought Johnathan was tutoring you and had taught you of the world, as he was a wizard and she is a squib. That is likely also why she did not interfere when he lied to the muggles. Perhaps she thought he would take you in officially once you started Hogwarts. From your descriptions, Mrs. Douffry seems to have stepped back from the day-to-day activities of the home and turned the majority over to Johnathan."

"Now, these papers here are the ones detailing the proof of your lineage, and these are pertinent sections of the will, of which there will be a full reading when you turn 17 and actually inherit the vaults in their entirety, assuming both your parents remain incarcerated. You will likely also inherit the Black family assets, as the first heir to those, your mother, is also in Azkaban, and as your mother is the eldest of the line of the Black family, they pass to you, her eldest child. Currently, Narcissa is officially in charge of them, as the only Black not disinherited or imprisoned and Bellatrix's next-of-kin; however, she has turned over the operations of both accounts to myself and our account manager at Gringott's, Bruxam. This third set of papers is about your trust vault, which is in the process of being set up. We will take you and Draco to Diagon Alley again tomorrow to get you proper robes and books, instead of the used ones you have. You will also attend lessons with Draco to catch up on lessons regarding proper behavior for a young man of your station."

"And what, exactly, is this 'station' that people keep speaking of?" Marvin glared sideways, First, they just decide what's going on, and send me to complete strangers with no warning, now, I am apparently not to be acting certain ways and have a 'station' as they put it, and god only knows what else is next.

His thoughts were interrupted by Mr. Malfoy's succinct response, "Because you are an heir to what was once a very influential house, and you must act the part in public."

"I _what?_ " The spinning coin plummeted onto Marvin's hand.

"You must act according to your station. And as an official Heir to the Most Ancient and Noble House of Lestrange, and unofficial Heir to the Most Ancient and –"

"Can you please stop repeating it as The Most Ancient and Noble House of whatever? I get it, old family, mostly disliked, probably going to get crap no matter what I act like, and now I have to play the perfect heir or whatnot despite being perfectly able to get along on my own for the past eleven years, plus I already completed Primary school ages ago and am currently working my way through Secondary school even though I wasn't due to start that until this coming year and –"

"—and 'The Most Ancient and Noble House of' is the proper term that I will use, and you will learn to mitigate your attitude when needed along with learning what you need to function to your highest degree with your position. People will expect you to act a certain way based off your name, disregarding whether you were raised a Lestrange or not. Your muggle lessons have no bearing here in the wizarding world, so you may as well forget them. Now, it is time for us to change for dinner. You may borrow some of Draco's robes so that you are properly attired. Dinner is a semi-formal affair here, and it will be good practice, not to mention a good starting point in your lessons."

"Minty, please show Marvolo his room, and ensure Dobby has dinner ready on time and is not banging his ears in the oven because he is upset it might be late. And Marvolo, do read those papers over on your own and ask me any questions you may have."


	12. Dining and Draco Malfoy

12\. Dining and Draco Malfoy

 _A/N: Welcome back, readers new and old. Never fear, for chapter twelve is here! Welcome to the Malfoy Manor. Let the story commence!_

Marvin was completely lost. The Manor was not only huge, but appeared to have been expanded over what he presumed were many years, and so the hallways did not follow any sort of pattern, and wound around and about. In fact, if it weren't for the fact that he was utterly confused, he could have sworn that they had walked in circles far more than once.

"Master Lestrange is being at his room," the elf said, approaching a door, "Master Draco's room is across the hall. Will Master Lestrange be needing anything?"

"Er, no. Marvin is okay though, if you could call me that instead, and tell the others of you?"

"Of course, Master Marvin, Minty will tell the other elves. Just call Minty if you be needing anything."

The elf, popped away with a startling sound that caused Marvin to jump. Shaking his head at the noise, he pushed open the door to find a room roughly the size of the first floor of the orphanage. Which is to say, could easily fit the foyer, the sitting room, the kitchen, and the school room in it without issue. Marvin could not figure why one would need a room quite so large, but despite its size it didn't seem like it would be drafty in the cold, and certainly not stuffy in the summer, which is more than could be said for his old room. His things were, despite their relocation, seemingly undisturbed, and everything was in the same order as he had left it. Not that he'd ever admit that the first thing he had checked were his notes, or that all his non-magical books he had collected over the years were still there, as few as they were. Although there were several from the library by the orphanage. He'd need to find a way to get those back before they were due. Once determining that his books were intact, he did what any other eleven-year-old is likely to do and flopped onto the bed. Because when confronted with a large, comfortable looking bed that you have permission to sit on, one should always do so. Books checked and bed tested, Marvin's attention turned towards what he presumed were robes that had been laid out on the bed. They were different from the school robes, and looked like a dress as far as Marvin was concerned. He hadn't paid much attention to what the other Malfoys or Professor Snape were wearing, although looking at the items on the bed, he supposed that Mrs. Malfoy must have been wearing much the same, and not a dress as he had assumed. Feeling utterly ridiculous, Marvin shrugged off his own shirt and tried to make sense of the mass of fabric that was a wizard's robe. Becoming entangled, it quickly became apparent that there were two items there, as one part fell to the ground that looked much the same as his school robes, and the other remained firmly stuck in tangles around him. A couple moments more, and Marvin was pretty sure he had them on right, even though there weren't any tags or buttons to figure out which way was forwards and which way was backwards. Marvin wondered again what was wrong with wizards, that they would wear this nonsense and piles of layers instead of a pair of trousers and a shirt.

"Marvolo! Mum says I'm supposed to tell you dinner is in 15 minutes. Not sure why she wouldn't send an elf, but I guess it doesn't matter. Are you ready?"

Marvin glanced down at himself, still feeling uncomfortable.

"I guess," he grimaced, "do I really have to wear this… dress?"

"What else would you wear to dinner?" Draco seemed genuinely puzzled.

"What I was wearing before? At least it's not a skirt!"

"But those are robes, not a skirt. Mother wears skirts, they're for girls. You weren't even wearing over-robes before. You can't possibly wear your other clothes to dinner. Especially not since Mr. Severus is coming."

"How is this any different than a skirt? It is literally a dress. There are two arms, a body, a head hole, and fabric attached encircling your waist which makes it a dress!"

Draco still regarded him with a mildly dumbfounded expression.

"I can't believe muggles don't explain these things. Those are robes, what Mum wears is a dress. Come on, we're going to be late, I'm sure Mum can explain better."


	13. A Long Overdue Break in Time

13\. A Long Overdue Break in Time

A/N: I am the worst human. My definition of a week is not wholly accurate. Reviews are candy, Kitty, stop raising my hopes by feeding me constant candy. (Or don't, it's cool either way.)

In Marvin's opinion, Draco was far too excited about leaving for Hogwarts. Perhaps it was because he had been raised to anticipate this day, or maybe that was just Draco, Marvin couldn't quite be sure. Either way, he was apparently up to snuff appearance wise according to Draco's mum, who he still couldn't quite manage to address as Aunt. He still thought the robes looked like dresses, but quickly learned that saying that would just get him a lecture on 'proper attire for a Most Ancient and Noble House,' and he didn't think he could stand another moment of that.

The library at the Manor had proved more than sufficient for learning of his supposed family and wizarding etiquette, and far more helpful than sharing in Draco's lessons. In the short span of a few weeks, Marvin felt he knew much more of the wizarding world, and only hoped that Hogwarts would be less boring than the lessons at the Manor.

Apparently, the Daily Prophet, which was the wizarding world's newspaper, had managed to get a picture of him when the Malfoy's brought him back to Diagon Alley. Uncle Lucius had said the article was nothing more than an attention seeking piece, and had no information that Marvin himself hadn't already learned, and had more than a bit of wild speculation in it.

He was also quite certain that wizards did not learn normal lessons, like maths and sciences. Which seemed rather strange to Marvin given the apparent complexities of the goblin's banking practices, and even the records he had found from several hundred years prior that he had stumbled upon on the Malfoy's businesses and investments. He didn't understand most of them, though it appeared that they seemed to be based off of some form of algebra, but Marvin was at a complete loss to explain most of the symbols, and the Malfoy's library did not have a math section. Mr. – no – Uncle Lucius had given him a strange look and said he needn't worry about those calculations yet, and what in the world was algebra, and that he should put such 'muggle ideas' out of his mind as they had no place amongst wizards, and it'd be a terrible faux-paus to identify himself with such mundane and muggle subjects.

Platform 9 ¾ was surprisingly normal. It looked like any other train station, if a bit dated. The main difference was the giant red steam engine, which looked like it had actually rolled straight out of a history book. A wave of Lucius's wand and their trunks were suddenly miniature.

"Remember, _finite incantatum_ once you place it on the racks above your heads, boys. The school elves will bring it to your room when you're Sorted, Marvolo."

Boarding the train, Draco excused himself to join his friends, and quickly ran off to whatever meeting place they had established. And Marvin was on his own.

The train was laid out in an old passenger car style, from the same era as the engine, with compartments on either side with frosted sliding doors. And, of course, dozens of students scurrying about. Picking an empty compartment at random, as Draco and he had boarded the train towards the end, and most of them had only one or two older students. Not entirely certain what to do with the miniaturized trunk, other than the words _finite incantatum_ , as Uncle Lucius had said, Marvin stared at it contemplatively for a minute, considering it on the rack in front of him, before a slightly unfocused voice nearly startled him off his perch on top of the seats,

"You have to tap it with your wand while you say the words. It's such a normal motion that your uncle probably forgot to tell you."

Marvin narrowly avoided falling over entirely, and instead managed to stumble into a seated position on one of the benches.

"Nice of you to join me," the voice said, now next to Marvin, "I'm Luna, and you're Marvolo, in case you don't remember."

"Oh, um, I do, remember. Let me just, fix my trunk, I was going to look at my notes, but, they're in my trunk and…"

"No worries, no one needs to know you didn't know how to unshrink your trunk. I noticed nothing."

Marvin stepped again up on the bench, and tapped the trunk, intoning,

" _Finite Incantatum,_ " tapping the trunk. It popped back up to its previous size, and Marvin rummaged through to find his notes and sat down across from Luna, pulling a pencil out of the coil.

She looked over the magazine she was reading, and raised an eyebrow at the spiral notebook in Marvin's hand.

"What are those?"


	14. 7 of 7

14\. 7 of 7

Half an hour of attempting to explain why a pencil and notebook was far more practical than the quill and roll of parchment that Luna pulled out, and the door to the compartment slammed open, and a girl with fiery red hair practically leapt in. Closing the door rapidly behind her, she put a finger to her lips. Not long after, some voices went by,

"Ronald, you can't tell Ginevra who to be friends with. She's capable of moving on her own,"

"Percy they were a bunch of Slytherins, I'm sure of it."

"Well she's off elsewhere now, honestly, do not pull me away from my prefect duties to debate who our sister sits with, and two of them were the Patil twins. One is in your house for Merlin's sake. Go find Harry and Hermione."

The voices faded back the way they came, and the girl let out a sigh.

"Hi, do you mind if I sit here?"

"Why would I mind?" came Luna's confused response, "We've known each other since we were little. Of course you can sit."

"Er, Luna, I was actually more asking your… friend?"

Marvin glanced at Luna and shrugged,

"Sure, those were your brothers then?"

The redhead put her shrunken trunk up on the rack and enlarged it with a muttered _finite_ spell.

"Yes, well, two of them at least. There's four others. I used to stay at Luna's for a few weeks each summer, mum said it was to have some girl time. But I'm pretty sure she wasn't quite sure what to do with a girl child, at times."

Luna went back to reading her magazine, pulling out a pair of red-tinted glasses and flipping the entire thing upside down. The compartment lapsed into silence.

"Well it's awful rude you haven't properly introduced yourselves yet, isn't it?" Luna finally said. Fixing them both with a pointed look, the severity of which was highly diminished by the odd glasses and upside down magazine.

"Oh, um, Ginny Weasley. I guess you're a muggle-born, right?" she asked, glancing at the spiral bound notebook on Marvin's lap.

"No, er, I guess I'm not. Marvi – Marvolo Str-," Luna raised a questioning eyebrow, "Lestrange. Sorry, I keep forgetting my name changed. Still getting used to it," he said sheepishly.

Ginny recoiled slightly.

"Don't be like that, Ginevra, I rather like him, and he talks to me."

"I haven't even known for a few months yet," Marvolo offered.

"I suppose if Luna likes you… you can't be too awful," she said cautiously, "and Luna, don't call me Ginevra."

"Benefit of doubt then? Feel free to call me Marvin, it's what I went by before." Marvolo asked, holding out a hand.

"I suppose so, and I go by Ginny" Ginny said, accepting the handshake with a small smile.

"Also, I'm calling you Ginevra in front of Marvolo to help him remember his name."

Ginny and Marvin stared at Luna. But she had gone back to her magazine, and oblivious to the air of confusion in the compartment.

"So what are you writing in that notes-book with?"

And Marvin was once again engaged in a conversation attempting to explain the concept of a pencil and spiral notebook, neither of which appeared to exist amongst wizards. He figured he knew why Luna said to change the binding of his notes now, it apparently attracted attention at an astounding rate. He decided that was going to be one of his first projects to research when he got to school. Perhaps there was a way to make a pencil look like a quill too, he didn't think he could tolerate having to constantly dip a quill in ink just to write notes down.

A while later, there was a knock on the compartment door, and Ginny slid it open,

"We're nearing the school now, so change – ah, never-mind. You're all already changed into your robes. First years?" Nods of acknowledgement followed, "Well I'm Eric Murley, 5th year Hufflepuff prefect," he introduced proudly, "you'll be taking the boats to the castle, so go to the left when you get off at the station. You'll see Hagrid, the groundskeeper. He's impossible to miss. Good luck with the Sorting!" A cheerful wave and the prefect was off.

"I suppose we'd best put away our things." Ginny twisted her hair up into a bun, sticking her wand through it. Luna had part of her hair, which was still disproportionately long, pulled back and had also stuck her wand through it, along with the quill she'd been showing Marvin earlier. Marvin put away his notes and pencil, and hesitated a minute with his wand. Ginny noted his hesitance.

"There's a pocket on the inside of your robes. It goes there. Girls robes don't have it, so Luna and I make do since we don't have holsters for our wands, and school robes don't have sleeves that tight enough to hold it. I'm surprised the Malfoys didn't have you get one."

"I didn't go shopping with them," Marvin muttered, "Professor Snape took me."

"You'll learn," Luna piped in, "My da made sure I had a solid knowledge of proper society, even though he never makes me follow it. I can help you find books so you know these things, else you'll get made fun of."

"When did you have time to do that?" Ginny asked, giving a sideways look towards Luna, "Well where do you think I went every time da was out of town after ma passed away? My ma was close friends with the Greengrass's, she and Mrs. Greengrass went to school together. I went there more than you came to my house. It was amusing every time Mrs. Greengrass looked horrified at my appearance. Personally, I like yellow, and radish-pink goes perfectly well with it. Her hair used to turn that color every time she made me change clothing for dinner," Luna giggled, "It's too bad they weren't friends with your parents, you could have come too," she sighed wistfully, "imagine her face if you wore orange, it would be priceless."

"I got quite enough speeches about manners at Aunt Muriel's, thanks," said Ginny dryly, making a face, "the first time I wore trousers over there she nearly had a heart attack, not a speech I'm willing to sit through again, no matter what hand-me-downs I wear at home."

Marvin watched the girls with growing apprehension. It appeared that Draco's lessons hadn't even covered basics of the wizarding world, probably because Draco had been raised in it. He considered asking what exactly the problem was with wearing trousers, but thought better of it after a moment. He could probably find it in a book somewhere, Luna already knew he was clueless enough, and he didn't think Ginny needed knowledge of how little he knew. He also wondered if Luna's apparent spacey-ness was at least partially an act, because she, thus far, always seemed to know more than one would think.


	15. In Regards to the Hat

15\. In Regards to the Hat

A slightly chilly ride later, and Marvin and his fellow students were disembarking self-rowing boats into a small inlet, and most were staring at a castle that dwarfed everything around it. Marvin had thought the Malfoy Manor was huge, now he was starting to think that wizards must build everything on a giant's scale.

"Ev'ryone off the boats?" The giant man was herding the last stragglers up towards the staircase. At the top of the stairs stood a woman who looked, for all intents and purposes, exactly as one might imagine a witch looking. Robed in dark green, a stern demeanor, a pointed hat, and her hands folded inside the sleeves of her robes.

"Thank you, Hagrid, I'll take them from here." The last of the students rounded up, and the man gave a cheerful wave and shoved through one of the doors at the top of the steps.

"Come along, inside you go." Withdrawing her hands, she waved her wand and double doors swung open with a resonating boom. She surveyed the students before her,

"That's everyone then? Good, good. Now line up, alphabetical order by last name, please, quickly now."

Slowly but surely, the line formed up. Marvin hesitated a moment.

"You'll be with me, Marvolo," said Luna cheerfully, grabbing Marvin by the arm, "See you later, Ginevra." Marvin was dragged away from a grumbling Ginny.

As soon as the students lined up, the witch was leading them towards another set of double doors. They opened no less dramatically than the last set, and a wave of noise hit the students. Four tables occupied most of the hall, and a raised platform contained a fifth one. The fifth table was occupied by individual chairs as opposed to the benches of the tables on the floor. In front of the raised table was a solitary stool, upon which sat an incredibly old hat and patched up hat. The stern witch stepped onto the platform, effectively leading the line of young students up behind her.

"When I call your name, you will step up to the stool and place the Sorting Hat upon your head. When you have been Sorted you will take a seat at the table of your house, and there will be no unnecessary dilly-dallying. Your house will be like a family to you at Hogwarts. Now, please, remain quiet while the Headmaster begins."

As the witch finished her short speech, the old wizard in garishly colored robes rose from the seat at the center of what Marvin could only assume was the professor's table.

"Quiet down now, you all know the Sorting is about to begin, now, please turn your ears to the Sorting Hat." The hall immediately silenced, and after a moment, the Hat began to sing from a large rip along its base. Its voice was gravely, and croaky, as though the Hat had not spoken in a long time. Although, Marvin did suppose the Sorting only happened once a year, so perhaps it had not spoken since the last Sorting. Marvin tuned out most of the song, it sounded like utter nonsense to him, and the descriptions given of the houses followed those in _Hogwarts, A History_ almost exactly. With the words rearranged for the purpose of rhythm, of course.

The song ended, followed by a smattering of polite applause, and the witch from before once again rose to her feet. A wave of her wand, and a scroll appeared in her hands, which she unfurled as she moved to stand a bit closer to the stool.

"Abbington, Mary Ellen," the first of the students went into Hufflepuff, and after an initial hesitation on the part of the first few students, the line moved steadily forwards. Marvin leaned slightly towards Luna, and spoke in a whisper,

"Isn't it a bit unsanitary for all of us to place that on our heads?" His nose wrinkled slightly in disgust. It was nearly as bad as the paper cutter at the bank. Did wizards have no common decency? Even muggle children knew to not share hats excessively. Luna cocked her head slightly,

"No, I think it's fine. I mean, the Hat is magical. I think he just looks so dirty to remind people he's old. I also think he is quite friendly, and would not infect you with lumpelins."

"Lumpelins? What are lumpelins? Wizard's lice?" Luna looked confused,

"What are lice?"

Marvin opened his mouth to respond, but thought better of it as a Kelsington, Mitchell Jacob went to Gryffindor.

"Nevermind."

"Lestrange, Marvolo Rodolphus," came next, and Marvin stepped up, and tried not to let his revulsion show as he picked the hat up to place it on his head.

 _Hmmm, yes, very interesting_ , came a small voice from the hat, and Marvin jumped slightly in the chair. He hadn't thought the hat could talk in his head as well as out loud. A soft chuckle sounded, _I can do many things, young man, and I most certainly do not have lice. You will find that magic tends to rebel against muggle diseases, to a point, that is. And I'd certainly have complained about small bugs crawling about me. Now, where to put you… Plenty of brains, you'd do quite alright in Ravenclaw, but I suspect… yes, I'm quite correct. Well then,_ "Slytherin," _it is._

It took Marvin a short moment to realize the "Slytherin" had been spoken aloud, but he removed the hat and set it down, proceeding to the table with a green runner down the center to the far right of him. Draco cleared a spot for him, so Marvin sat there. Luna went to Ravenclaw, skipping down the steps towards with blue table next to his. Marquis, Caleb Lewis joined the Slytherin table, sitting across from Marvin, and Marvin zoned out until Ginny's name was called. Marvin, having decided he rather liked Ginny around, watched as the hat sat on her head for quite some time. No one else seemed rather concerned, and the clump of redheads who Marvin presumed were her brothers had already slid over as if anticipating another person. Finally, the Hat called out,

"Slytherin!"

Marvin watched in confusion as the entire hall froze in silence. Every other student had received at least polite applause from their new house, but a quarter of Slytherin looked completely lost, another quarter furious, and everyone else somewhere in between. Ginny looked frozen on the stool, as if unsure if she should move. Marvin noted that her brothers seemed to be at a complete loss. Until two carbon copies stood up and started cheering and clapping, and causing a general ruckus. Marvin did the only thing he could think of. He couldn't very well get all of Slytherin to welcome her, he didn't even know them. But Draco did. So he kicked him under the table and said,

"Slide down and clap, she looks terrified." Draco looked startled, and started to protest, and everyone else who heard him glared daggers at him, "she's a filthy blood traitor," one of the older students said. Marvin was pretty sure her name was Parkinson, but he didn't really care. Ginny had given him the benefit of doubt about the surname he didn't ask for, just like Luna. Draco was, apparently, family, and Marvin wasn't about to let him be mean to someone he wanted to be friends with because of some stupid history he didn't know.

"I said, _clap_ ," he spat, and to his complete surprise, and their apparent shock as well, Slytherin did. Marvin missed the shock along the table, satisfied he wasn't clapping alone. Draco was pretty sure it was accidental magic, but he was furious that he had to applaud for a blood traitor to join his house, and he was sure others weren't pleased by their hand's spontaneous movements either. He'd certainly be writing to Father about this, it was obscene to have a Weasley in the noble house of Slytherin. And whatever Marvin did. He wasn't sure what had happened, but he was pretty sure he should be mad about it. Luckily, Marvin seemed to note that it would be too much to ask Draco to sit next to Weasley, and had slid over to make room on the other side. Well, at least he didn't have to sit next to it.

Marvin smiled. Luna wasn't in his house, but she was friends with Ginny. He was sure they'd visit. And Ginny was in his house. He had proper friends. Not just curious other children, or toddlers who liked his coin tricks. Ginny shakily sat down next to him, smiling slightly in response to his grin, but still seeming nervous. The last three students were sorted quickly; Weston, Allison Michelle going to Hufflepuff, a Yaxley, Damien Aloin joining them at Slytherin, and Zula, Alexandra Elizabetta Coral Samantha heading to Gryffindor. Marvin cringed at the last of the student's names. Who named their kid with three middle names anyways?


	16. Serpents and Silver

16\. Serpents and Silver

Marvin and Ginny followed the rest of their new house down a flight of stairs into what Marvin could only describe as, well, dungeons. He wasn't sure what to expect given the general dampness of the dungeons, and he certainly couldn't imagine living down here would be comfortable. Until they stepped into their common area. The walls appeared damp and mossy, but when Marvin touched one out of curiosity it was warm and dry. He figured the stone floor under his feet would be the same, despite the lack of rugs. There was a massive fireplace centered opposite the door they came in, and while the fire blazing in that drew attention, it had nothing on the wall behind it. Said wall was completely clear, and looked out into a lake. He figured it was the same one they had taken the boats over. He had always detested swimming, especially in lakes, and never dared risk opening his eyes under water. He was slightly regretting this as he inspected the lake bottom that he could see. Two stair cases with silver detailing on the rails curved around and met behind the fireplace, and Marvin figured that those led to where they would sleep.

"Alright, firsties, listen up," Marvin jumped slightly, "I'm Lucian Bole, 5th year prefect, and this here is Isadora Yaxley, also 5th year prefect. If you have a problem you can't resolve, come see us. And it had better be good, and you'd have better exhausted every other resource at your disposal. Under no circumstance should you go to the 6th or 7th year prefects unless explicitly told to do so. Isa, you have the rest?"

The girl was a solid six inches taller than Lucian Bole, and looked significantly more intimidating in Marvin's opinion.

"Any problems you have within the house stay within the house. To everyone else Slytherin is one unit. There will be no disputes outside of friendly banter, and any staged public arguments or fallouts are to be run by us first with at least a week's notice. We all know how family can get, don't we, Damien?" She glared pointedly at Yaxley, Damien Aloin; who Marvin now figured was her younger brother, and who had been spacing out and ignoring her speech entirely.

"Any real arguments that occur outside of this room or your dorms… well, let's just say the consequences are best left unlearned. You all may have noted we've got a Weasley here," her lip curled in disgust, "not sure why, but it better not affect our reputation. Speaking of, talk to me after, Weasley."

Ginny flushed bright red but raised her chin and glared at the girl, "Of course."

"Good, you all are dismissed. Grab your schedule from Lucian before you head to bed. Any trouble you get into, do not get caught. If no one sees it, it never happened, remember that."

Marvin hung back with Ginny, but she elbowed him away, "Go ahead. I'll be fine, I'll fill you in tomorrow morning." Marvin didn't think it was fine, after all, nobody seemed to think Ginny was supposed to be there, and the glares and looks of disgust going her way were not at all reassuring. But, it wasn't as though he'd be much help anyways, and he did really want to see what his schedule would be like, and meet the other students in his room. Pushing Ginny to the back of his mind, he followed the rest of the students towards Lucian Bole.

Marvin took his schedule up the stairs. Potions was first, with Gryffindor, and Transfiguration was with Ravenclaw in the afternoon. He smiled, glad that Ginny and he would be able to see Luna tomorrow.


	17. Breaking Physics

17\. Breaking Physics, or the Rules of Transfiguration

 **/Author's Note:**

 **Hey, guys! I feel awful for not updating (my definition of week has translated to about a month; the worst, I know). I've had midterms and projects and all sorts of nonsense. But here we are, and I've actually got the next six chapters ready to go, pending some feedback from my awesome friend Kitty Smith! Kitty Smith has also written a fabulously hilarious fic inspired by this story. (It's fanfic-ception over here, totally ridiculous). The short's called "Wizards Wear Robes" and it is a masterpiece, so please send her some love! I appreciate all the feedback on Marvin's story, and I absolutely love writing him. So thanks so much! I'll see you all in the next update!**

Potions reminded Marvin quite a lot of making soup. He partnered with Ginny, and as it turned out she was pretty good at it. She jokingly attributed it to helping her mother cook from the moment she could reach the stove. Marvin would not have been surprised that there was truth in that statement. She also admitted to having spied on her twin brothers in their prank-making processes, and apparently, they did a lot of potions work and were veritable geniuses. While Professor Snape didn't outright acknowledge he heard the comment whilst passing by, Marvin could have sworn he muttered something about them being "veritable nightmares to be sure."

The Kelsington kid from Gryffindor managed to light his table on fire, but the girl with a billion names managed to put it out using her cloak. Which, with its effectiveness, caused general confusion amongst the other Slytherins, who couldn't figure out how a muggleborn owned a fire-proof cloak, since they were apparently expensive. Marvin attempted to explain that she just used the cloak to smother the flame and prevent oxygen from reaching it, but that was met with mutterings, scowls, mocking laughter, and whispers. Marvin felt he had a lot more research to do before he should open his mouth again. Ginny was faring slightly better, if only because she kept her head down and remained silent outside of speaking with Marvin. Honestly, Draco had made Hogwarts sound so interesting and fun, yet so far as Marvin could tell, the people were not overly friendly. Not that that was a problem, really, there were plenty of unfriendly people everywhere. It was just unfortunate he had to live with them.

His hopes were renewed slightly when Ginny explained that the prefect wanted to talk to her to ensure that her twin brothers would be well aware that the Slytherin common rooms and dungeons were still off-limits to pranking, else there may - or may not - be some sort of nasty retribution that most certainly did not come from Slytherin headed their way. Ginny, of course, had agreed, and Isa Yaxley had apparently taught her a Bat-Bogey Hex, just in case she had problems convincing them. Or her roommates gave her problems, whichever. Ginny was suspicious of the elder girl being so friendly, but, as Marvin pointed out, she'd probably get in trouble with Professor Snape and the older prefects if there were problems among the first-year students.

To Marvin's delight the tables in Transfiguration were organized into threes, and as such Luna sat with them. Professor McGonagall, also known as the Deputy Headmistress and Head of Gryffindor House, was every bit as strict as Professor Snape seemed, despite rather impressively morphing herself to and from a deceivingly adorable cat.

One lecture later, and they were onto trying the spells. Professor McGonagall wanted them to change a matchstick to a needle. Marvin was pretty sure transfiguration broke every rule there was. Well, perhaps not every rule, but Marvin was certain there were laws against taking one sort of matter and changing it to another. Luna, oddly enough, was humming and muttering to her matchstick, wand laid across the backs of her hands. Ginny was glaring at hers and sometimes casting the spell, looking at her messily scrawled notes and then trying again. It appeared a few of the Ravenclaws had created some wooden needles, or metal matchsticks, and one of the Slytherins from Marvin's dorm, Marquis, Marvin thought, had lit three separate matchsticks on fire.

A small pop next to Marvin and he saw Luna grinning.

"Look, I did it," said Luna, holding what could only be described as the worlds curliest needle. It was a literal spiral, Marvin was torn between pointing this out, and just accepting it. This was the girl who walked in, and found a wand for him, after all. Luckily, Ginny decided for him.

"Luna… don't you think it's supposed to be straight?"

"Not at all, I asked it very nicely, and it wanted to be this shape. Personally, I think it has always wished to be a hairpin, but matchsticks and hair get on very poorly."

"Excellent work, Ms. Lovegood, although I do hope you can apply that more directly to the project we are working on."

"Of course, may I have another stick?"

She studied it a moment, and Marvin decided that he should probably pay attention, as did most of the class given their limited successes. A few movements of her wand, a soft-spoken incantation, and a shiny needle sat where her matchstick had previously been.

"Well done, I think 5 points to Ravenclaw are in order, as you are the first one done," she turned to the class again, "We shall take 10 minutes of additional practice, and I will then go around the room and assess your work. Begin."

Maybe if he just looked at the match, and willed it to change through his wand it would work. After all, the incantation and wand work were supposed to help direct the magic, so he should just be able to will it to be a certain way. No different than levitating the coins. A moment later and Marvin had never felt like more of an idiot. Transfiguration was simply a matter of taking the magic he had played with, thinking the incantation, directing his wand correctly, and it worked. Magic didn't want to break physical laws, it worked with them, challenged them. The needle that sat in front of him was metal, but not because its chemical or molecular structure had been changed, but because he connected needle to the matchstick and magic had taken the idea of one and completed it, and he could not understand how the other students were struggling, because it was just so simple to just will it to change and… Professor McGonagall was in front of him.

"Mr. Lestrange, since you've only practiced once, surely you must be able to demonstrate to the class since you do not appear to need to utilize your practical time," came the admonishment.

Marvin smiled at the Professor, which seemed to disconcert her, she was clearly thinking he had not actually done anything at all.

"Of course," he picked up his wand and directed the magic at the needle again, conducting the movements as before, and handed her a matchstick, "would you like it to be a needle again?" Despite his success, the Professor did not look amused. Marvin shrugged it off and gathered his things. He'd change his notebooks and pencils tonight, so that they would blend in with the other student's notes tomorrow and perhaps the other Slytherins would not whisper so much.

Luna suggested the library, and the three of them went there before dinner. Luna was showing Ginny the transfiguration spell, as her needle still had wood grain in it, and Marvin wandered about the stacks for anything that caught his eye. Eventually, he made his way back to the table with Luna and Ginny, where Ginny was glaring at her notes so fiercely that Marvin was surprised they didn't burst into flames.

"Still haven't got it?"

"Not in the least. I'm doing it all correctly, I'm sure, but it just won't change. How did you do it in class?"

"Well, the movements have to be very specific, at least while learning it, according to the book. There are diagrams in the back of the text. And I think what Luna meant by asking it nicely is kind of just thinking of a way to relate the wooden matchstick to the needle. They're very similar in shape, so that is the similarity I was thinking of. But perhaps you need a different one, since there's wood grain in your needle still."

Ginny studied the needle intently, then tried again. The matchstick promptly burst into blue flames, nearly setting Marvin's notebook on fire. The result, other than a displeased Madame Pince, a horrified Marvin, and a mildly amused Luna, was a perfect, shiny, and wood-grain-less needle.

Five minutes later, and Marvin, Ginny, and Luna were on their way down to the Great Hall after being tossed out of the library.

"How could you do that to in a library!? A library of all things. There's books and papers everywhere. That's the worst place you could possibly -"

"Perhaps, not everything is as bright and clear as it appears," interjected Luna, before skipping to the Ravenclaw table for dinner, leaving a very confused Marvin and a smug Ginny. Shortly thereafter, Ginny was beset upon by two identical redheads, and cheerfully waved Marvin off as she was practically dragged to the Gryffindor table. Marvin was sure there was a rule about that too, but, well, Ginny had already almost set a library on fire once today. So, he proceeded to his table alone, where, without Ginny by him, he was almost warmly received.


	18. Professor Snape and Scenes

18\. Professor Snape and Scenes

"So apparently, you caused a fuss in Transfiguration today," said Draco on the way back to common room.

"No?"

"Really? Because I suspect that is not the impression Professor Snape got from McGonagall. She stormed in during our potions and demanded to have a word with the Professor. Have fun explaining that to Professor Snape this evening."

Marvin now realized they were not actually outside the common room when Draco abruptly stopped. Per the nameplate, the door was to the office of one Professor S. T. Snape. Marvin idly wondered what the 'T' stood for while Draco knocked. He had a feeling that telling the Professor that he hadn't done anything but the assignment wasn't going to fly. Draco herded him into the office and lingered by the door, looking unnecessarily smug, in Marvin's opinion. He glared at him, after all, he could have told Marvin he was in trouble before dinner, or at dinner, or before they reached their head of house's office, or –

"Mr. Lestrange! Kindly put down my things at once." Marvin's concentration broke. Only now did he realize that quite a few of Professor Snape's belongings were circling in front of Draco.

"Er – evening, sir. I'm not entirely certain how."

"Can you drop them?"

"Well, yes, but they're glass so they'll –"

"Then drop them carefully! Must I spell out everything? Break anything and its detention for a week. Draco, leave. Lestrange, sit. And do tell Ms. Weasley, once she escapes from her nightmarish siblings, that she is never to try and light the library on fire again," Draco opened his mouth to question that, "Don't bother asking. Just relay it exactly as I said it. And, so help me, if you pick a fight with Potter any time in the next –"

Draco was out the door before the Professor even finished the last sentence, which Marvin thought was a terrible bit of judgement on his part since now he didn't know when he could pick a fight with that Potter kid again.

"Mr. Lestrange, kindly pay attention when I am speaking."

"Right, sorry, sir, what did I do?"

"You made Professor McGonagall interrupt my second-year potions class. I had to leave Potter and your cousin in a classroom together with boiling cauldrons for 15 minutes. Which means Longbottom's cauldron blew up. So, you will be joining Potter in detention tomorrow evening."

"I am… afraid I don't follow, sir?"

"You are the reason my class was interrupted, therefore, the reason Draco blew up Longbottom's potion and Potter fought with Draco."

"So, excuse my questioning, sir, but why isn't Draco in detention for blowing up this Longbottom's potion?"

"Because I will never hear the end of it from his father. Also, I doubt anyone but myself and perhaps Miss Granger know he did it. You, however, will be at the potions classroom tomorrow at 7 PM. Do not be late. And bring your dragon hide gloves. You will be scrubbing cauldrons."


	19. The Resident Celebrity

19\. The Resident Celebrity

A/N: It's that time again! Update day. I know I haven't been particularly diligent, and it's because of school, not lack of love for mine and Rowling's characters. That and my lovely friend Kitty Smith having read the chapters after this one in a weird voice and made them about a million times creepier. I was disturbed. They weren't even supposed to be creepy, Kitty! They were normal. Anyways, this chapter is now up and ready for reading, so I hope you enjoy. Harry Potter is about to make is first appearance, as I'm sure you've all gathered. Happy reading!

Apparently, Marvin had missed Ginny breaking Crabbe's nose and giving both Draco and Goyle black eyes. Draco had passed his duty of telling her not to set fires in libraries on to them, and it had not gone well. Marvin suspected it was because Crabbe and Goyle spoke in little more than grunts. This had earned her some credit amongst their house, not because Crabbe and Goyle were particularly adept at anything, but simply because they were both twice her size. Draco had then pulled his wand out and tried to hex her, for which she punched him in the face. Since this had occurred within the boundaries of the Slytherin common room, none of the older students would hear anything of Ginny getting in trouble. After all, if Draco had just followed instructions from Professor Snape, then of course this wouldn't have happened. Marvin figured Isa Yaxley just thought Draco deserved a punch to the face, since she was the one that resolutely refused to let Ginny get in trouble. Marvin decided to simply let Draco think what he pleased and convinced him that having to put a bit of bruise paste on his eye wasn't worth writing home for. If he didn't have to live with him, Marvin probably would have hit him long before. The older boys at the orphanage would leave him alone once he hit them, but Marvin didn't think that Lucius would appreciate that. Perhaps something of Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy's lessons in decorum had stuck – or maybe he needed a new way to deal with people other than hitting them. Marvin idly wondered how many times Draco could fall off the moving stairs before he realized something was up.

Regardless, Draco was grumpy the next day, and Marvin elected to sit with Ginny at meals. Plus, Ginny was just far better company.

A comparatively uneventful school day later, and a boy with messy hair and round glasses was leaning against the wall already when Marvin arrived for his evening detention, the boy's hands shoved in his pockets and his wand in his back pocket.

"Harry Potter," he stuck out one hand, "and you must be the Marvolo Lestrange Ron claims is corrupting his sister."

"Hardly corrupting, I believe, but yes, Marvin Lestrange. Can't say I've heard much about you other than Draco's rants and the bit in _Hogwarts: A History_. Although what defeating the Dark Lord has to do with the school, I certainly don't know."

"I'm surprised Hermione hasn't pointed that out to me yet, to be honest. But apparently most everyone and their mother knows my name. Painfully awkward, finding out you're someone you're not."

"I understand the feeling," Marvin smiled back, sheepishly, "think we wait out here?"

"Yea, Snape'll –"

"That's _Professor_ Snape to you, Mr. Potter. I see you've met our resident celebrity, Mr. Lestrange. Cauldrons are in the corner. Get your gloves on and start scrubbing."

The door slammed shut behind them, and Marvin and Harry were confronted with piles of cauldrons.

"I will be grading the abysmal excuses of essays you lot turn in. Wands on the desk, I'll know if you touch them. Do not disturb me unless someone is dying. You may begin."

Professor Snape stepped through the door to his office and slammed that shut as well, cloak whirling in his typical fashion.

"Guess we'd best get started then. We'll be here forever anyways," said Harry glumly.

An hour of companionable silence later, and Harry spoke again.

"What'd you get detention for anyways? Malfoy never gets detention, and don't you live with him?"

"Yes, but I'm not Draco. Lucius and Professor Snape are friends. Plus, my parents are in prison. I'm also not Narcissa's 'darling dragon.' There's a difference, you know?"

"She calls him that? God, no wonder he's such a jerk. He's just like my cousin," Harry pulled a disgusted face.

Marvin snorted, "Anyways, I'm here because Professor McGonagall interrupted your class to complain about me, and that meant that Draco blew up some Longbottom's cauldron. So, my fault."

"I knew it! Snape's always obviously favoring him -" Harry cocked his head slightly, "You hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"Shh. Keep quiet. Heard a voice. Shut that water off." Harry and Marvin waited in the growing silence.

"There!" Harry whispered, "it's getting closer." Marvin concentrated a little more.

 _"Kill-Eat-Crush-Bite-Kill-Ea-"_

"Who talks like tha-?"

Snape's office door slammed open.

"And maybe if you weren't skulking about, whispering, you'd have finished these by now. Thursday, 7pm, here, again. Get back to your common rooms." Snape's office slammed shut once again.

"Those essays must have been pretty horrible," Marvin observed, "he's not usually that cranky, at least during the summer."

"I'm pretty sure just my presence makes him mad."

"You might be right. The voice was probably someone trying to mess with people. Best get out of here before he puts us back to work."

"Yea. See you Thursday then, I guess."


	20. Friends and Frustrations

20\. Friends and Frustrations

 _A/N: You all may have noted some inconsistencies in my update scheduling. Now that I've completed my college semester, and have moved on to only the single course I'm taking over the summer, that should improve. I'm also about 8-10 chapters ahead in writing, although I've been a bit easily sidetracked with light-hearted, low-plot chapters of late. I apologize for that, and you can expect to see the actual story moving forwards a bit more within the next few chapters. In my concern about rushing the story line, I reached a bit of a stalemate with my plot bunnies, and they refused to work. I'm still hammering out details, but if I make any edits to already published chapters (which is unlikely, since the ones most likely to be edited have yet to be published) I'll make sure to let you all know. If you've any questions about the characters (I know some people have left ideas in the reviews already), I'll be happy to answer them! With as few spoilers as possible, of course. I'm always welcome to feedback, so feel free to pm me or just drop things in the reviews, I generally respond within a few days._

"So why, exactly, haven't you used that hex Ginny taught you on the people who keep hiding your things, Luna? It's been weeks now, and they're still messing with you."

"Because it's just the Dittly-hops messing with their heads. They really are quite nice people," Luna kept braiding leaves into her hair while she spoke, despite Marvin's agitated manner.

"But it's getting ridiculous! They hid your notes four times last week. You barely finished your potions essay on time."

"Nonsense, I don't really need my notes for most classes. Besides, them taking my star charts probably helped them more than it hurt me."

"Luna, I don't think the other Ravenclaws stealing your star charts for astronomy are doing it to better their own. If they were, they'd probably just ask to see them. You should really go to Professor Flitwick, at least. Plus, they stole your shoes. _Nobody_ who does that is nice."

Luna wiggled her bare toes in the grass.

"Nonsense. Shoes are silly anyways. Now come on, we're meeting Ginny before transfiguration. She said she'd feel better after a lunchtime nap." Luna skipped up to the castle, leaving Marvin to pick up the wraps from their sandwiches. He followed behind less enthusiastically. He'd have to get Ginny to help him with the Ravenclaws bothering Luna. Especially her roommates. He'd have to get their names from somewhere. Luna never mentioned them, probably so he and Ginny couldn't bother them. Ginny had gotten good at that Bat-Bogey Hex that Isa Yaxley taught her. Ginny claimed she taught Luna it, to stop the other kids bothering her, but Marvin had never seen Luna throw offensive spells outside of the ones required for practice in Defense class.

Something grabbed Marvin by the arm and yanked him into an alcove.

"What the-"

"Sorry, didn't mean to startle you. But Ron's been on me about not talking to you and all after I said you weren't so bad after the detentions from Snape."

"So we are in an alcove why? I kind of need to get to transfiguration."

Harry waved him off, "Percy, Ginny's brother, owes me one. I stopped the twins putting dungbombs in his trunk. He'll cover if you're late. He wants to know how Ginny's doing anyways."

"Right, so, alcove; why again?"

"Oh, er, I just wanted to know if you'd heard that super creepy voice again. Because, um, Ron and Hermione can't hear it. Which is kind of weird."

"A few times, yea, I haven't mentioned it though. It's usually down around the dungeons and all. I figured it was still the same people messing about. Probably older students with Sonorous charms or something similar."

"Sono-whats?" Marvin opened his mouth to reply, "Never mind, I'll ask Hermione later. Come on. Percy's just down the hall. If he doesn't pester you to death, you might actually make it to class on time."

"I don't pester, Harry. Come along Mr. Lestrange. Harry, stay out of trouble during your free period. And do make sure to tell Ron that he still has that smudge on his nose. He won't listen to me."

One very awkward and stiltedly formal conversation later, and Marvin was finally at the Transfiguration room, blessedly right on time, which meant no uncomfortable excuse from Percy Weasley to Professor McGonagall was necessary.

"Cutting it terribly close, Mr. Lestrange. Essay on the desk, please, and sit down quietly."

Marvin flopped into his seat between an exhausted looking Ginny and a typically spacey Luna. It didn't look like they were doing anything practical in the lesson today, so Marvin figured it was as good as any time to read ahead.

Halfway through re-reading an excerpt from Prorlington's Treatise on Living Organisms and their Natural Resistances to Transfiguration, a kick under the table from Ginny finally clued him in that Professor McGonagall was speaking to him.

"Sorry, Professor, what was the question?"

"It wasn't, Mr. Lestrange. Since you seem so keen on not listening to my lecture, perhaps you'd like to come up and demonstrate the concept."

Marvin surveyed the half-stool half-rabbit and figured it needed fixing.

"Just fixing half-transfigurations, right Professor?"

The class giggled slightly, but was almost immediately silenced by a glare from the Professor.

"Right," came her admonishment. A lazy flick of his wand and the rabbit-headed stool was back to a normal stool. Professor McGonagall's lips pursed even tighter.

"Sorry. Did you want it as a rabbit?" Marvin asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No, class is dismissed. You all know your homework, except for Mr. Lestrange."

"Isn't it a bit early to leave?" asked Marvin as he, Luna, and Ginny packed up their things.

"Yes. We were supposed to **read** the chapter on the _Reparifarge_ spell for homework, then work on transfiguring beetles to buttons. She was lecturing on the importance of responsible transfigurations."

"The nargles were quite distressed today," chimed in Luna.

"Uhuh. Luna, can you walk me to the Hospital Wing? I think I need to see Madame Pomfrey for a Pepper-Up Potion again."

"Did you want me to join you two?"

"I'd have invited you if you weren't about to be lectured by a furious looking Isa Yaxley."

"Crap."

"Have fun, Marvolo! Don't let nargles bite," Luna's voice faded down the hallway as she and Ginny made their escape.

"Lestrange," came Yaxley's less-than-pleased voice.

"Yes, Prefect Yaxley?" Marvin tried to look as unassuming as possible. Yaxley's snort indicated he had failed.

"Professor Snape wants to see you again, kid. After dinner, his office."

"Of course," Marvin sighed. He was probably ending up in detention again.

"Also, Lestrange, there's a book on the table by your bed. When you're done, leave it on the table in the back corner of the common room."

Ginny wasn't back by dinner, so Marvin wasn't surprised when Draco joined him.

"You've got detention again tomorrow and Sunday at 6pm. Uncle Severus is taking care of some teacher issue or whatever, so he told me to pass it on."

"You blew up someone's cauldron because Professor McGonagall interrupted again, didn't you?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Draco sniffed, continuing to pile his food on his plate, "I've never done such a thing in my life."

Marvin groaned. Another evening of cauldron scrubbing appeared to be in his future.


	21. Vociferous Voices

21\. Vociferous Voices

As it turned out, Marvin didn't have any cauldron scrubbing ahead of him. At some point after the announcement that Mrs. Norris, Filch's cat, had been petrified, and rooster blood painted on the wall where it was hung, it was universally agreed that Professor Snape should work on the de-petrification potion and Marvin found himself in for an evening tolerating Professor Lockhart's poor attempts at conversation with Harry.

Fifteen minutes into the professor's speech on fan-mail with Harry, Marvin had decided that he'd much rather be scrubbing cauldrons in the dungeons than spending another moment with the man. From the look on Harry's face, Harry agreed. Eventually, it was decided that Marvin would be sealing the responses that Harry and Lockhart were writing out.

The only good thing about detention with Lockhart was that it only took an hour. At eight Harry and Marvin found themselves free from their detention several hours earlier than they had been expecting.

"So how do you feel about disembodied voice hunting?"

"Ron and Hermione aren't expecting me back for another few hours so…"

Marvin raised an eyebrow, "If we both hear it it's clearly there, right?"

"Sounds good to me. Can't say I'm fancying meeting the creeps chanting 'Kill-eat-crush-bite' though."

"I don't want to meet them either! I just want to know who they are so that I don't meet them again."

"Fair enough. I just need to grab something from my room. Dungeons in fifteen then?"

"See you there."

Several hours of dungeon-scouring later and neither Marvin nor Harry had heard a single whisper from the voice.

"Maybe it's upperclassmen and they're at Hogsmeade?"

Marvin nodded slowly, "That would make a certain amount of sense."

"Guess we should head back."

Strictly speaking, most of the dungeons were off limits outside of Snape's classroom. Due to the lack of lights, Harry and Marvin were mostly using a _Lumos_ charm to see. So, when Harry whispered _Nox_ and cut the light from his wand, Marvin nearly knocked him over.

"Under here, stay quiet. There's someone up ahead," Harry whispered, tossing a cloak over the both of them.

"Albus, if the chamber is indeed opened again we may have to close the school. What if it is happening again?"

"Nonsense, Minerva, I'm sure it's a harmless prank. I think most of the students would hex Mrs. Norris given half the chance, but don't tell Mr. Filch I said that," Dumbledore's voice chuckled out of the darkness.

"Albus, a student died last time! This is hardly a laughing matter. If it's not a prank, then they will shut down the school. And we both know those Weasley twins didn't pull this one. It's not like them, and they were trying to turn the squid red for the quidditch game."

There was a slight pause before Dumbledore responded with a sigh, "I think the best course of action is to wait and see for now. And to hope."

The footsteps and conversation faded away, and Marvin and Harry made their way back up to the school proper, creeping along slowly. They didn't speak much until after they made it out.

"They can't close Hogwarts," spat Harry vehemently, "They just can't."

Marvin wasn't as convinced, "As much as I'd hate to have to suffer through more evenings of formal dinners on a regular basis, I don't think Professor McGonagall would say it if it weren't serious."

"You might be right. You know anything about this Chamber of Secrets that was mentioned on the wall?"

"How do you know what the message said?"

"Might have been the one who found it."

"I think I remember reading it somewhere, I'll have to check my notes."

"You sound like Hermione," Harry groaned, "but let me know if you find anything, yea? Ron and Hermione refuse to listen to anything about this or the voice. They keep trying to drag me to Madame Pomfrey. Ron's convinced you cursed me."

Marvin snorted, "What would I possibly need to do that for?"

Harry grinned, "I keep telling them that, but they don't seem to believe me."


	22. Dueling Dualities

22\. Dueling Dualities

 _A/N: I started summer school two weeks ago, hence the delay. I also changed the summary to more accurately reflect when I'm uploading, although I will still aim to upload about a chapter a week (as those of you who have read this from the beginning know, me trying to upload weekly often results in it being roughly bi-weekly). So the official upload schedule is now listed as bi-weekly._

 _As the story progresses, I find myself wishing for feedback (after all, this story may be for my plot, but, more importantly, it's for your readership), so feel free to drop a review or a private message with questions, comments, concerns, etc. I try and respond to messages and reviews within a few days._

Marvin had heard the voice again, several times, but, unfortunately, had not had a chance to go voice hunting with Harry again, or share what he had found in the library. Whatever was petrifying things had struck again, this time on a student, (some first-year Gryffindor running about with a camera), and so, detentions were now served exclusively with heads of houses, and students weren't to be allowed anywhere without the accompaniment of a professor or staff member. Thus, voice hunting had been placed on hold, although Marvin had taken to noting when and where he was every time he heard it. It was nearly daily now, and he had tried to speak to Ginny about it, but she had been almost constantly resting or writing in her diary and didn't want to be disturbed. So, despite spending more time with his housemates, Marvin found himself rather lacking in people to speak to. Draco was busy regaling the common room with stories from his grandfather about the last time the Chamber of Secrets had opened, Luna was always with the Ravenclaws (who Marvin very much hoped she had either hexed or had started leaving her alone), and Ginny was even more withdrawn than at the beginning of the semester. Thus, Marvin found himself, much to Draco's approval, more and more in the company of his roommates.

Draco's point, when Marvin had once bothered to ask what the issue was with Ginny, since she was at least a pureblood, was that while two of his roommates might not be completely purebloods, at least they weren't blood traitors. Plus, it was hushed-up enough, and "nobody talks about that except behind closed doors." Listening to older students talk in the common room, Marvin had figured that Draco's "behind closed doors" actually translated to "in complete public, but quieter than normal." In any case, his roommates didn't question Marvin reading the book Isa Yaxley had left, nor did they ask him to explain it. It turned out Isa's book was on wizard's duels, their history, and subsequent evolution. It also listed nearly twenty pages of banned spells, all of which were "subject to change at the behest of the Most Esteemed of Wizarding Councils, The International Council for Civil Dueling Amongst Wizards for Sport and Conflict Resolution," also referenced as the ICCDAWSCR. None of said banned spells were in the library, although Marvin didn't think he should complain about why, especially considering that the listed spells were only divided into two categories: "Highly Lethal" and "Assuredly Deadly." Luckily, there were more than a few spells that Marvin made great strides in mastering that were explained in the book or in other texts. It did later occur to him that informing his roommates off-handedly that he'd start practicing on them if they didn't shut up was probably the reason they left him alone and kept a respectful distance from his part of the room, especially once he reached the later chapters and found that severe bodily injury was not disqualified from the realm of professional dueling.

It was not long after Marvin returned the book to the back table of the common room that Professor Lockhart announced he would be hosting a dueling club, assisted by Professors Snape and Flitwick, to begin after the midterm tests. Luna's remark on the matter, a melancholy,

"Blibbering humdingers," was picked up by the Professor as he flounced through the classroom.

"Blibbering humdingers indeed, Miss Lovegood! I shall, of course, take it easy on my esteemed colleagues, wouldn't want to embarrass them in front of their own students of course," he winked, "Now, in preparation, we will take the day to review what we know about formal dueling! Naturally, you will all have noted that I do not do much in the way of standard dueling in and about my adventures, as they usually involve all manner of creatures. But! Fear not, I am, of course, an expert in the field. Now, who would like to start by demonstrating the proper starting positions for a duel?"

At this point, Marvin had given up on attentiveness in any class that wasn't practical work, and there was precious little practical work to be done in Lockhart's class – there had been some sort of disaster in the first lesson of the year, involving some Cornish Pixies, if Marvin had heard correctly, and Lockhart had stuck to lectures after that. Said lectures mostly consisted of retellings of Lockhart's travels, and Marvin had long-since given up on pointing out differences between the stories in his books, the class's so-called textbooks, and Lockhart's actual retellings. Luna and Marvin spent most of their time in the class conversing about different subjects or books they had found. Ginny would join in sometimes when she was there, but had been in and out of the hospital wing so often that she was near always there or resting. Marvin hadn't been able to figure what was wrong with her, and Luna, despite always seeming to know more than she let on, had said nothing. Madame Pomfrey had nothing to add but that Ginny needed her rest.

Assuming today would be yet another day wasted on Lockhart's sad excuses of lessons, Marvin settled back into his seat awaiting the near certain disaster that was about to fall upon the classroom. It occurred to Marvin that while he couldn't speak to Harry, he could run his findings by Luna. For all her apparent lack of focus, she often had rather valuable input, once you deciphered it.

Once explained, Luna continued to stare at him unblinkingly, where Marvin was never certain if she was looking at him or behind him, and said,

"It's the pipes, of course, now let's demonstrate," and promptly grabbed Marvin's arm and dragged him up to the makeshift dueling platform. In response, Marvin may have destroyed two of the supports under the platform on the way over, causing the entire thing to collapse and Lockhart to end class early.

"Stay together, students, I'm sure you'll all be fine if you don't wander off. Now right back to your common rooms, of course."

"Come on," said Luna, pulling Marvin to the side, "you don't need to see Harry to tell him what you found, just send an owl."

"Luna, I don't – "

"There are owls in the owlery. Honestly, sometimes I question how you get such good marks."

Marvin tactfully didn't mention her oddities, like the radish earrings that had added themselves to her wardrobe lately. So what if he forgot about owls? It's not like they were common place when he was a kid. One note later and Marvin felt much less like he'd reached a standstill in the mysterious voices.

While they made it to the owlery fine, their luck didn't hold on the way back.

"Whatever are you doing out and about, my goodness, come here you two, what is the meaning of this?" came Flitwick's voice. Luna let her eyes slide a little more out of focus, and Marvin was almost sure it was on purpose.

"Marvolo and I were with our respective housemates, but I stopped to look for one of my earrings and the Ravenclaws left me behind. Professor Lockhart didn't walk us back, but Marvolo stopped when he was passing by with the Slytherins and was kind enough to stay behind to make sure I got back alright."

"That was very nice of you Mr. Lestrange, and I appreciate your concern for my house's students, but you ought to have stuck with your group; professor, earrings, or not," Flitwick chided.

"Terribly sorry, sir," Marvin apologized, "Luna was just so very upset, and with the attacks and all I certainly couldn't leave her on her own."

"And the earrings were my mother's, professor. My dad meant to give them to me before I went to school, but he only just remembered them. We still miss her terribly you know, and losing one would be like losing part of a memory of her."

Any doubt Marvin had that Luna wasn't playing things up to get out of trouble fled his mind. The earrings might have been her mother's, but if Marvin remembered right, Flitwick certainly had a soft spot for her mother and had mentioned several of the charms she had created and spoke highly of her. Professor Flitwick's eyes misted slightly and he looked at Luna sadly,

"But of course, that was a tragic accident. Such clever spell work your mother did. Come along, let's get you two back. You'll be eating in your common rooms tonight; another student has been attacked."

It was a relatively quiet walk back. Professor Flitwick left Marvin outside the Slytherin common room, and hurried off with Luna, reminding Marvin not to wander off again.


End file.
